Fri Oct 18 01:07:44 UTC 2024: ## Indian-Origin Businesswoman Unlawfully Detained in Uganda, Family Appeals to UN
**Kampala, Uganda** – Vasundhara Oswal, the 26-year-old daughter of Swiss industrialist Pankaj Oswal, has been detained in Uganda since October 1st under controversial circumstances. Oswal, who was visiting a site related to her father’s $100 million investment in a grain-based ENA (extra-neutral alcohol) facility in East Africa, was reportedly seized by 20 armed men without identification, warrant, or explanation.
The family has vehemently denied local officials’ claims that Vasundhara’s detention is linked to a missing person investigation, calling it a fabrication. Pankaj Oswal has alleged that the detention stems from false accusations by a former employee who stole company assets and took out a $200,000 loan with the Oswal family as guarantors.
Vasundhara’s detention has been characterized by appalling conditions. According to social media posts, she has been forced to stay in a room full of shoes, denied bathing and changing clothes, and suffered an anxiety attack that went unaddressed. She has also been denied contact with her family and lawyers, and access to proper vegetarian food, in violation of her religious beliefs.
Several of Vasundhara’s colleagues, including the company’s lawyer Rita Ngabire, were also detained.
In response to this alleged unlawful detention, Pankaj Oswal has filed an urgent appeal with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, urging them to investigate the case and intervene on his daughter’s behalf. The international community is now watching closely as this case raises serious concerns about the rule of law and the protection of individual rights in Uganda.
First Piper 