Bombay HC grants bail to Vaishnavi Hagawane's mother-in-law and two others in dowry death case

Pune, November 7, 2026: The Bombay High Court has granted bail to three accused in the alleged dowry death case of Vaishnavi Hagawane. They are her mother-in-law Lata Hagawane, brother-in-law Sushil Hagawane and family friend Nilesh Chavan. Vaishnavi, 24, died on May 16, 2025, at her in-laws' home in Bhukum.

A single-judge bench of Justice Milind N. Jadhav granted the three bail on a personal bond of Rs 25,000 each. The bench observed that the material placed before it so far did not prima facie establish any act or instigation that would have driven Vaishnavi to take such an extreme step.

The court also made clear that bail does not mean acquittal. The three accused must cooperate with the investigation, must not tamper with evidence or influence witnesses, and must attend the trial regularly.

During the hearing of the bail applications, the court said the injury marks found on Vaishnavi's body could prima facie point not to the three applicants but to her husband, Shashank. Shashank was at home on the day of the incident. According to the court, Lata was not at home that day and Sushil lived separately. Nilesh Chavan is a friend of Vaishnavi's sister-in-law and his name was not even in the FIR.

The bench also referred to the WhatsApp conversations between Vaishnavi and Shashank. The court said the messages suggest that Vaishnavi was outspoken and gave replies. It also noted that neither Sushil's nor Chavan's name appears in any conversation or message.

The court further said it could not be swayed by the sentiments expressed by Vaishnavi's father through the prosecution. It has to examine the entire material on record as a whole.

By way of background, Vaishnavi was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her in-laws' home on May 16, 2025. The post-mortem found several injury marks on her body. Allegations of harassment for dowry, domestic violence, and physical and mental abuse were then made against her in-laws.

On the complaint of Vaishnavi's father, Anil Kaspate, Bavdhan police on May 17, 2025, arrested her husband Shashank, mother-in-law Lata and sister-in-law Karishma Hagawane. Father-in-law Rajendra Hagawane, Sushil and family friend Chavan were arrested later.

Lata, Sushil and Chavan have now been granted bail, while Shashank, Rajendra and Karishma remain in jail.