‘Godmother’ Santokben Jadeja is dead

Santokben Jadeja, the erstwhile ‘godmother’ of Porbandar and a former MLA, died of heart attack at her residence in Porbandar on Thursday. She was 63.

Jadeja was sitting with his family members at her house in Bokhira area of the town when she complained of chest pain around 7:00 pm. Her son and other family members rushed her to a hospital, where despite serious attempts by doctors she could not survive the cardiac arrest.  Wife of late Sarman Jadeja, a leader of Mer community in the region, Santokben was the first and only woman from Porbadar district to be elected to the state assembly in 1989. However, her later years were mired in controversies. First, her name surfaced in the murder of Keshu Odedara, a councillor of Porbandar municipality in 2005. Some of her family members were convicted in the case and were sent to jail.

In 2005, her son Kandhal Jadeja was arrested in connection with his wife Rekha Jadeja’s murder. Rekha was shot dead at her residence in Rajkot in May 2005. Rekha had to go to jail for a brief period after Odedara’s murder.