Indian-origin billionaire's daughter recalls gruesome ordeal in Ugandan jail

Vasundhara Oswal daughter of Indianorigin billionaire Pankaj Oswal jailed for the alleged kidnapping and murder of her fathers former employee in Uganda who was later found alive claimed that her more than threeweek ordeal behind bars was a gross violation of human rights PTI reportedLast year Vasundhara 26 was falsely charged with the kidnapping and murder of Mukesh Menaria a former employee of her father Pankaj Oswal He was later found alive in TanzaniaSpeaking to PTI on Friday Vasundhara said I was detained for five days and thrown in prison for another two weeks My human rights were grossly violated They didnt let me take a shower and denied me food and water My parents had to bribe police officers through lawyers to bring me food water and basic necessitiesShe claimed that at one point as a way of punishment she was not allowed to use the washroomVasundhara was arrested on October 1 2024 and was granted bail on October 21 PTI reportedShe further said that the police searched her premises without a warrantWhen I asked them to present a search warrant they said We are in Uganda we can do anything youre not in Europe anymore They then forced me to go to Interpol with them on the pretext of meeting their director When I didnt want to do it the same day a male officer picked me up and threw me inside their van she allegedVasundhara also claimed that they forced her to give a statement without a criminal lawyer PTI reportedWe had a civil lawyer because they didnt give us time as they said that if I didnt give a statement then I would be held indefinitely she saidAs per PTI Vasundhara was detained in a cell after she gave a statement and was asked to pay USD 30000 and present her passport for a police bondHowever she claimed that even after submitting the necessary documents she didnt get a police bond and was thrown back in the cellVasundhara further alleged that even after producing an unconditional release order from the courts she was detained illegally for 72 hours PTI reportedThey later informed her that she was being charged with kidnapping and attempted murder and was taken to a lowerlevel magistrate court instead of a high courtShe said that she was kept in a prison for individuals arrested over petty crimes and was later shifted to a facility housing convicted murderers and human traffickersI spent the next two weeks in Nakasongola prison And even after they found that the man Menaria was alive they proceeded to keep me in prison on those charges They found him on October 10 a week or two before I got bail she said PTI citedVasundhara managed to get bail on October 21 following attempts to sabotage her application and she received her passport on December 10She alleged that the Uganda police kept the charges on her even though Menaria was found alive and later reduced the charge to misdemeanour confinement after taking money from her family PTI reportedThis was done basically to keep something on our heads and extort more money because the Uganda polices biggest mistake was that they didnt investigate the matter properly she saidVasundhara further said that she wants the Ugandan government to correct its mistakesI feel like the other governments have already automatically corrected their mistakes and they have used the law correctly not in a manipulative manner to get what they want So this is more up to the Ugandan government to correct its mistakes towards an investor who has spent the last three years in their country building their business she said PTI reportedThe case against Vasundhara was dismissed on December 19 2024According to PTI Vasundhara said that she is currently reviewing all possible legal remedies at the moment for all that she went through in prisonWith PTI inputs