Maharashtra Doctor Suicide: Police Say Victim Called, Texted Accused Right Before Ending Her Life

Maharashtra Doctor Suicide: The 28-year-old woman doctor who allegedly died by suicide in Maharashtra’s Satara district had spoken to one of the accused and exchanged text messages with him shortly before ending her life, police said on Friday.

According to officials, the woman, posted at a government hospital in Phaltan, was found hanging inside a hotel room on Thursday night. A preliminary probe revealed that she had called software engineer Prashant Bankar, one of the accused, moments before taking the extreme step. Police have also recovered chat messages exchanged between the two.

Woman doctor’s suicide note on palm

In a chilling revelation, the doctor had written her suicide note on her palm, naming police sub-inspector (PSI) Gopal Badane and Bankar. She accused Badane of raping her multiple times over the past five months and alleged that Bankar, her landlord’s son, mentally harassed her.

“She lived in a flat owned by Bankar’s father and was in contact with him until shortly before her death,” a senior police official told PTI. “Sub-inspector Badane has been suspended from service, and both men have been booked under charges of rape and abetment to suicide,” the official added.

Police have launched a manhunt for the two accused. The woman’s phone and other electronic devices have been sent for forensic analysis.

Is there a Political pressure?

A relative of the deceased claimed that the doctor had faced “police and political pressure” to alter post-mortem and medical examination reports. “She was asked to make wrong mortem reports in cases of unnatural deaths and for detainees. She had tried to raise complaints about it,” the cousin said, demanding justice.

Taking serious note of the case, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis reportedly spoke to the Satara Superintendent of Police and ordered the immediate suspension of the officers named in the note.

India recorded nearly 4.5 lakh cases of crimes against women in 2023, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), marking a slight rise from previous years.

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