- Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Vasundhara Oswal serves as an executive director of PRO Industries and has been detained since October 1, after a former employee took a loan with Oswal family as guarantors
By: Shajil Kumar
PANKAJ OSWAL, an industrialist of Indian origin, has alleged that his daughter Vasundhara has been illegally detained in Uganda, facing false charges and denied legal redress, according to media reports.
In an open letter to the Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, the industrialist claimed his 26-year-old daughter has been illegally imprisoned and is being denied basic rights and access to family or legal representation.
Oswal has also approached the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention requesting them to intervene.
Vasundhara serves as an executive director of PRO Industries and has been detained since October 1, after one of his former employees took a $200,000 loan with Oswal family as guarantors.
Oswal claims that when his family refused to repay the loan, false charges were slapped on them.
He claimed his daughter is a victim of “corporate and political manipulation”.
According to EU Reporter, Vasundhara was detained in Uganda during a plant visit. She was taken into custody without a warrant and many of her colleagues have also been detained.
In his appeal to UN body, he claimed that Vasundhara was interrogated under degrading conditions and held for over 90 hours without access to legal counsel or family.
In a post on Vasundhara’s official Instagram account the family alleged that the authorities took away her phone and she had an anxiety attack.
Even after the former employee was apprehended in Tanzania, his daughter has been falsely accused of crimes, including kidnapping and murder, he alleged.
Despite a court order for her unconditional release, the Ugandan police have reportedly slapped inadmissible charges to prevent her release on bail.
Oswal has also approached human rights lawyer Cherie Blair, whose firm Omnia Strategy has filed an urgent appeal to the UN seeking immediate action for Vasundhara’s release.
