Mysterious death of Gujarat woman tribal cop: Top activist alleges effort to push the case under the carpet

Vasanti Vasava

By A Representative
Senior Gujarat human rights activist Manjula Pradeep has alleged that frantic efforts are underway to ensure that those responsible for the mysterious death of Vasanti Amarsinh Vasava, 28-years-old tribal woman police constable between November 24 and 26 in South Gujarat go scot-free. In a statement, Pradeep, who heads NGO Navsarjan Trust and was the chief campaigner for the arrest of the main accused in the mysterious death of Vasava, said, “It seems that caste factor is ruling in the Gujarat police department”, and hence one is “not sure that the family members of the deceased tribal woman constable would be able to get any justice.”
Calling the whole case highly sensitive from the political standpoint, Pradeep indicated that this could be seen in the fact that the deceased is a tribal and the accused a Rajput, She said, there is already a need to look into certain important facts following the FIR registered against the accused, Vijaysinh Dipsinh Vaghela, who worked as police writer in the police station.

“Investigating officer Shreya Parmar, DySP scheduled tribe and scheduled caste cell, has gone for 10 days’ leave. The postmortem was done only on November 28 at the SSG hospital, Vadodara, but the complainant has not been given a copy of the post mortem report and the video CD of the post mortem”, Pradeep said in her statement, released on Friday.
Pradeep underlined, “The complainant has been to the SSG hospital, Vadodara, thrice, but was not given postmortem report.” Then, “the second accused, i.e. wife of the main accused, Shilpaben Vijaysinh Vaghela has filed an application for quashing and setting aside the FIR order in the Gujarat High Court on December 21, 2014. The second accused has also filed anticipatory bail application at the sessions court, Rajpipla, which was not granted.” But, significantly, “she has not been arrested by the police although it is an atrocity case.”
Working at Rajpipla police station in South Gujarat, Vasava was found dead at her house, located in the police quarters of Rajpipla town. Her body was found on November 26, 2014, at around 8:30 pm in Quarter No 43. “Raghuvir Amarsinh Vasava, who is the brother of the deceased, was not informed by the police; he came to know about the death of his sister from a third person. He rushed to the police quarters, and saw his sisters dead body in standing position while her neck tied with the ceiling fan. The body fell down on the floor when the police cut the nylon thread with which she was tied”, Pradeep said.
In fact, according to Pradeep, Raghuvir Vasava tried to lodge FIR at the Rajpipla police station on October 26 evening, but cops refused to entertain the complaint. After struggling for almost 16 hours, FIR was lodged on November 27, 2014 in the evening against the two accused namely – Vijaysinh Dipsinh Vaghela and Vijaysinh’s wife – at the Rajpipla police station under various provisions of the criminal procedure code and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities or PoA) Act.
Pradeep indicated, what has also not been looked into is that, both the accused are living at the same place, where the deceased was living. The deceased was living in Quarter No 43 on the third floor, while the accused is living with his family in Quarter No 39 on the second floor. A suicide note was found near the dead body of the deceased stating that she was dying on her will and no medical tests should be done after her death”, Pradeep added.

Comments

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

'Batteries now cheap enough for solar to meet India's 90% demand': Expert quotes Ember study

By A Representative Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst, has urged India’s top policymakers to reconsider the financial and ecological implications of the country’s energy transition strategy in light of recent global developments. In a letter dated April 10, 2026, addressed to the Union Ministers of Finance, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and the Vice Chair of NITI Aayog, with a copy to the Prime Minister, Sharma highlighted concerns over India’s ambitious plans for coal gasification and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR).

Health Day ads spark row as NAPi targets Britannia campaign, criticizes celebrity endorsement

By A Representative The advocacy group Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi) has raised concerns over what it describes as misleading advertising of ultra-processed food products (UPFs), particularly those high in sugar, fat and salt, calling for stricter regulations and an end to such promotions across media platforms.

Search This Blog