Indian-origin billionaire Pankaj Oswal feels “immensely guilty” about sending his elder daughter Vasundhara to Uganda, where she has been imprisoned for over three weeks now, Riddhi Oswal has told HT.com. In fact, the businessman and his wife, Radhika Oswal, have locked themselves in a “secret location” as they work to secure their daughter's release.
Vasundhara Oswal was detained by a group of armed police officers in Uganda on October 1, over what officials claim is an investigation related to a missing person. Her family claims the charges are trumped up, and the man she is accused of kidnapping is alive and well in Tanzania.
Vasundhara had been in Uganda for three years, developing her family’s factory in the East African country. On October 1, she was visiting the factory – a part of the Oswal Group’s $100 million investment to establish East Africa’s first grain-based Extra-Neutral Alcohol (ENA) production facility – when she was whisked away by armed men under the pretext of questioning.
Since then, the billionaire heiress has spent three weeks in prison, living in subhuman conditions, her family says. They say the detention is illegal and that Vasundhara, 26, was arrested without a warrant.
“Can’t go to Uganda”
Vasundhara Oswal’s younger sister, Riddhi Oswal, told HT.com in an email interview that her parents feel guilty about sending Vasundhara to Uganda. Their guilt is compounded by their helplessness over not being able to travel to the African nation themselves.
“My parents’ hands are tied because they can’t even go to Uganda without facing immediate arrest by the highly corrupt officials there.
“As we’ve come to learn, the police in Uganda have too much power and can arrest people on a whim, even without warrants or proper court procedures.
“If my parents are arrested, they won’t be able to fight for my sister, who has essentially been cut off from everything and is already being treated like a convicted criminal,” Riddhi Oswal explained.
She said that her parents, Pankaj and Radhika Oswal, have cut off communication from the outside world and are only talking to people who can help her sister. Riddhi herself has been put in charge of all family and business matters as her parents devote their attention to securing Vasundhara’s release.
“They feel Immensely guilty”
Riddhi Oswal told HT.com that she and her parents were in London when they first got news of Vasundhara’s detention in Uganda. Since then, her parents have locked themselves in a “secret location” and have been devoting all their time and energy to Vasundhara’s case.
“My parents have essentially locked themselves in a secret location, devoting all their time to fighting for my sister’s release. They barely eat more than one meal a day and are surviving on the hope and faith that they can get their daughter free,” Riddhi told HT.com.
“They feel immense guilt because they pushed her to go to Africa to manage the factory and oversee its setup,” the younger Oswal sibling said of her parents.
“They always taught us that both sexes are equal and encouraged my sister to work on greenfield projects and more challenging assignments, rather than giving her something ‘easier’ or ‘fancier’ just because she’s a woman. Now, they feel responsible for her situation,” she concluded.
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