Maharashtra Woman Doctor Dies By Suicide, Names Police Officer For Rape And Harassment

A woman doctor working at a government hospital in Maharashtra’s Satara district has died by suicide, leaving a note on her palm, accusing a police sub-inspector of rape and mental harassment, police said on Friday.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis spoke to the Satara superintendent of police Tushar Doshi and ordered the suspension of the sub-inspector named in the suicide note.

The 28-year-old doctor, who hailed from Beed district and worked at the hospital in Phaltan tehsil, was found hanging in a hotel room at Phaltan late on Thursday night, an official said.

In a suicide note written on her palm, the doctor alleged that she had been raped and mentally harassed the police sub-inspector and another person over the last five months.

She wrote that sub-inspector Gopal Badane raped and sexually harassed her on multiple occasions, and another man Prashant Bankar, a software engineer, mentally harassed her.

Satara police have registered a case against Badane and Bankar under charges of rape and abetment to suicide, Doshi said.

"The doctor’s body has been sent for post-mortem. We are also investigating the allegations mentioned in the suicide note on the victim's palm,” he said.

A relative of the doctor claimed that she was under pressure to change a post mortem report and also to modify medical test reports of arrested accused in some cases.

Maharashtra Legislative Council Deputy Chairperson Neelam Gorhe said the doctor’s suicide was a matter of concern. “This is a serious issue. I have written to CM Fadnavis, seeking stringent action against those involved,” Gorhe said.

“Environment minister Shambhuraj Desai, who hails from Satara district, has assured that there will be an impartial probe into the case,” Gorhe said.

Minister of state for health Meghna Bordikar said she spoke to the Satara civil surgeon and was informed that the doctor had never complained about facing any sort of harassment.

Describing the doctor’s suicide as a grave incident, Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said the incident highlights the breakdown of law and order situation in the state.

“The Fadnavis-led government has failed to protect women,” Sawant said.

State Women's Commission chief Rupali Chakankar said, "We have taken cognisance of the matter and ordered Satara Police to take strict action against the accused.” Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde said there should be no “media trial” in the doctor’s incident. “I am confident that CM Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, will ensure a thorough probe, including a detailed forensic investigation, in the case,” Munde said.

Shiv Sena-UBT spokesperson Sushma Andhare demanded an independent SIT to probe into the doctor’s suicide.

“She was bright and ambitious. We raised her since childhood and supported her education. She was under pressure at work and that is why she took this extreme step. The culprits must be punished,” said Prayaga Munde, the victim’s aunt.

Another aunt said, “Just two days ago, she mentioned being harassed by seniors at work.” The doctor’s suicide has cast a pall of gloom in her Kotharban-Kavadgaon villages, where locals looked up to her as a symbol of determination and hope for rural girls.

The villagers are now mourning her untimely demise.