‘Another suicide note’: New twist in Maha doc suicide case

The cousin of a woman doctor who allegedly died by suicide in Maharashtra’s Satara has called for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe, claiming that she had faced “immense political and police pressure” for over a year and was forced to falsify postmortem and fitness reports.

Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: @BEEDPOLICE/X

Speaking to ANI, the cousin of the deceased doctor claimed that she had been subjected to harassment for more than a year and was being pressured to manipulate official reports.

“She was under a lot of political and police pressure for the last year. Medical staff at the hospital are also involved. Everyone forced her to make wrong postmortem reports and forge fitness certificates. She was being forced to perform more and more postmortems despite other officers being present at the hospital,” the cousin said.

Raising concerns over the handling of her body, the cousin alleged procedural lapses after her death. “When she died, there was no one to perform her postmortem till 6 am. They brought her dead body from her residence to the hospital in our absence. All this should have happened in front of the family members,” the cousin said.

The cousin also said that they suspect that another suicide note might exist, alleging that the doctor had been documenting her distress and complaints in writing.

“We believe that when her dead body was taken to the hospital, she must have left behind another suicide note. She fought hard and wrote 4-page complaint letters. She cannot die with just a little note on her palm,” the cousin said.

They have demanded that an SIT investigation be conducted in the presence of a woman officer from outside Maharashtra, alleging that “state police officers can try to influence the investigation.”

The woman doctor died by suicide in Maharashtra’s Satara on Thursday, leaving a note written on her hand that named a police official and two others, officials said.

Satara Police arrested two persons, Police Sub-Inspector Gopal Badne and Prashant Bankar, in connection with the case. A case was registered against the accused duo under charges of rape and abetment to suicide. The Police Sub-Inspector Badne named in the note was suspended following this development.

Earlier in the day, suspended Police Sub-Inspector Gopal Badne, accused in the case, was produced before the Additional District and Sessions Court in Phaltan on Sunday and sent to police custody till October 30.