Mumbai Doctor Commits Suicide, 3 accused arrested

0

Mumbai: All three accused- Bhakti Mehar, Hema Ahuja and Ankita Khandelwal in Dr Payal Tadvi suicide case have been arrested and might be produced before the court on May 29. Payal who worked at BYL Nair Hospital committed suicide on May 22 due to intolerable ragging and caste-based harassment.

Two of the accused persons- Hema Ahuja and Bhakti Mehar- were arrested on May 28 and the third accused-Ankita Khandelwal-was arrested on the morning of May 29.

The three accused doctors were arrested for abetting the suicide of their Junior, Dr Payal Tadvi who belonged to the Scheduled Tribe community. Dr Tadvi’s husband and mother have demanded strictest action against this case.

Read On: Mumbai Medical student commits suicide amidst casteist slurs

“She was picked on for being lower caste and was ragged quite a bit by her seniors. The seniors said they will not let her study. They used to humiliate her on WhatsApp too,” her husband Salman told NDTV.

“We want the government to intervene. The police are not taking any action. It is possible that Payal was murdered by the three women doctors,” Mr Salman said as reported by PTI.

“Payal used to tell me about the torture which she was facing by her seniors on petty issues. They threw files on her face in front of patients,” Payal’s mom Ms Abeda told PTI. “Payal used to tell me not to give a written complaint against her seniors despite being harassed by them. She would say that doing so would adversely impact her career,” she added.

The three arrested doctors have written a letter to the Mumbai Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) regarding this matter. They have requested in their letter to take fair action here after hearing their side of the story.

Dr Payal Tadvi
Hours before committing suicide, Dr Payal Tadvi old Abeda she was unable to bear the torment from the trio (Courtesy: Mumbai Mirror)

MARD has suspended all the three arrested doctors and have assured full co-operation with the police regarding Payal’s case, reported PTI.

Several people including Dr Tadvi’s parents started a protest outside the hospital. Members of Dalit and tribal organisations, including the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, also took part in the protest.

Bhim Army chief Chandrasekhar Azad also showed his mutual support to the protest and said, if needed he would come down to Maharashtra and fight for justice.

“The NCW is deeply disturbed…it is a matter of serious concern,” wrote NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma to the hospital requesting an investigation and to inform the commission of action taken, reported news agency ANI.

The State commission has also written to the hospital demanding a report of action from the authorities within 8 days.

The three doctors were charged under the Atrocities Act, the Anti-Ragging Act and the IT Act and Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.

Also Read: Haryana 3 police officials sacked, 2 suspended for assaulting a woman 

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.