Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Mahatma Gandhi’s great-granddaughter gets 7 years jail in South Africa for cheating businessman

Mahatma Gandhi’s great-granddaughter gets 7 years jail in South Africa for cheating businessman

A court in South Africa on Monday (7) has jailed Mahatma Gandhi’s great-granddaughter, Ashish Lata Ramgobin, for seven years after she was found guilty of fraud and forgery. 

Ramgobin, 56, was accused of defrauding businessman SR Maharaj after the latter gave her R6.2 million (around $457,000) for allegedly clearing import and customs duties for a non-existent consignment from India.


It may be mentioned here that Monday also marked 128 years of Gandhi's infamous ejection from a train in Pietermaritzburg in South Africa for racist reasons, an incident that would go a long way to make him an iconic symbol of anti-colonial resistance.

Ramgobin is the daughter of Gandhi’s 80-year-old granddaughter Ela Gandhi, an internationally acclaimed activist and the late Mewa Ramgovind.  

She was refused to appeal the conviction and sentence by the Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court.

The trial in the case against Ramgobin started in 2015 and according to Brigadier Hangwanu Mulaudzi of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the former allegedly submitted fake invoices and documents to convince potential investors that three containers of linen were being brought from India.

On Monday, the court heard that Ramgobin met Maharaj, a director of New Africa Alliance Footwear Distributors, in August 2015. His company imports, manufactures and sells clothing, linen and footwear and also provides finances to other firms on a profit-share basis. Ramgobin told Maharaj she imported three containers of linen for the South African Hospital Group NetCare.

GettyImages 107931675 Ela Gandhi, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi and the mother of Ashish Lata Ramgobin (RAVEENDRAN/AFP via Getty Images)

“She said she was experiencing financial difficulties to pay for import costs and customs and she needed the money to clear the goods at the harbour,” NPA spokesperson Natasha Kara said on Monday.

“She advised him (Maharaj) that she needed R6.2 million. To convince him, she showed him what she claimed was a signed purchase order for the goods. Later that month, she sent him what seemed to be a NetCare invoice and delivery note as proof that the goods were delivered and payment was imminent,” she said.  

Ramgobin “further sent him confirmation from NetCare’s bank account that payment had been made”, Kara added.

Maharaj believed Ramgobin because of her family background

Maharaj said he believed Ramgobin because of her family name and the NetCare documents. However, when he found out that the documents were forged, he brought criminal charges against her. Ramgobin was previously released on bail of 50,000 rand ($3,684), but this time, the court did not let her off the hook.

She was a rights activist and founded the Participative Development Initiative at a non government organisation called International Center for Non Violence, where she was an executive director. She was said to be an environment, social and political campaigner.

Mahatma Gandhi spent more than two decades in South Africa in the late 1890s and early 1900s before he became a leader in India’s freedom fight. 

More For You

JLR-Tata-Getty

JLR had initially planned to manufacture more than 70,000 electric vehicles at the facility. (Photo: Getty Images)

JLR halts plan to build EVs at Tata’s India plant: Report

JAGUAR LAND ROVER (JLR) has put on hold plans to manufacture electric vehicles at Tata Motors’ upcoming £775 million factory in southern India, according to a news report.

The decision was influenced by challenges in balancing price and quality for locally sourced EV components, three of the sources said. They added that slowing demand for electric vehicles was also a factor.

Keep ReadingShow less
Leicester drug supplier Sarju Khushal jailed for 11 years over £2m operation

Sarju Khushal

Leicester drug supplier Sarju Khushal jailed for 11 years over £2m operation

A MAN who supplied controlled drugs on a ‘wholesale’ scale across Leicestershire has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. Sarju Khushal, 30, was arrested in 2022 after investigations revealed he had been transporting drugs from Lancashire into the area.

Khushal, formerly of Hazeldene Road, Leicester, pleaded guilty to several charges, including the supply and conspiracy to supply class A drugs. He was sentenced at Leicester crown court last Thursday (6).

Keep ReadingShow less
Tamil Nadu Education

Tamil, one of the oldest living languages in the world, is a source of pride for the state’s people

Getty images

Education or imposition? Tamil Nadu battles India government over Hindi in schools

A war of words has erupted between Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister MK Stalin and the federal government over the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which recommends a three-language formula in schools, with two of the three being native to India. Stalin has voiced strong objections, claiming that the policy could lead to the imposition of Hindi, a northern Indian language, in non-Hindi-speaking states like Tamil Nadu. The issue has reignited old tensions between southern states and the central government over the privileging of Hindi.

Historical resistance to Hindi

Tamil Nadu has a deep-rooted history of opposing the promotion of Hindi, dating back to the 1960s. Protests broke out in the state when the federal government attempted to make Hindi the sole official language, leading to a compromise that allowed the continued use of English. Language in Tamil Nadu is not merely a means of communication but a powerful symbol of cultural identity. Tamil, one of the oldest living languages in the world, is a source of pride for the state’s people. As a result, any perceived threat to its prominence is met with strong resistance.

Keep ReadingShow less
Former Bristol MP Thangam Debbonaire enters House of Lords as Baroness

Thangam Debbonaire

Former Bristol MP Thangam Debbonaire enters House of Lords as Baroness

FORMER Bristol MP Thangam Debbonaire has taken her seat in the House of Lords after being awarded a life peerage last month.

The 58-year-old, who represented Bristol West for Labour from 2015 until July’s general election, wore the traditional scarlet robes during her introductory ceremony. She will now be known as Baroness Debbonaire of De Beauvoir Town in the London Borough of Hackney.

Keep ReadingShow less