Pune, 23rd June 2023: Tragedy struck as a 17-year-old girl met with a fatal accident after jumping off a moving train, driven to desperation by the relentless torture inflicted upon her by her stepmother. The victim, identified as Ashwini Namdev Chavan, resided in Yerwada. The police have taken action against her parents, Namdev Chavan and Lakshmi Chavan, both residents of Yerwada, following a complaint lodged by the victim’s maternal uncle, Shankar Gegya Rathod (42), a resident of Dhanori.
According to the police, the victim’s sister, Seema, had married Namdev Chavan in 2005, and they had three children together: Raj, Sachin, and Ashwini. Tragically, in 2013, Seema lost her life in an accident believed to be a result of the torture inflicted by her husband. Soon after, within six months, Namdev remarried Lakshmi, claiming that his children needed a mother figure to care for them. However, the stepmother subjected the three children to physical abuse, forced them to perform household chores, denied them meals, and compelled them to work as child laborers to earn money.
Raj, the eldest sibling, was forced to leave school three years ago and work in a grocery shop to support the family. Subsequently, in 2022, Ashwini was also coerced into leaving school and forced to work as a nanny in Wadgaon Sheri. She resided with the family in Wadgaon Sheri, and her stepfather would confiscate her entire salary every month. However, in April of this year, Ashwini decided to quit her job. This decision angered her stepmother, who intensified her tormenting behavior. Unable to bear the cruelty any longer, Ashwini confided in her maternal uncle about her plight.
In a gesture of support, her uncle provided her with new clothes to attend her stepmother’s sister’s wedding. On June 3, Ashwini was returning home from the ceremony, traveling on the Mumbai LTT Super Fast Express train. Tragically, as the train departed from Daund railway station near Patas, Ashwini jumped off the moving train, resulting in her untimely death. The Daund Police registered a case and subsequently transferred it to the Yerwada Police for further investigation.
