Satara doctor suicide: Congress targets CM over doctor’s death; Ajit Pawar slams women commission chief for targeting victim

A day after Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi spoke to the family of a woman doctor who was found dead under suspicious circumstances in Satara’s Phaltan and promised all possible help, the party on Thursday described her death as an ‘institutional murder’ and demanded the resignation of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra […]

Expressing disappointment with the Maharashtra Women’s Commission, Gaikwad said it had not even met the victim's family and had instead engaged in her character assassination.

A day after Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi spoke to the family of a woman doctor who was found dead under suspicious circumstances in Satara’s Phaltan and promised all possible help, the party on Thursday described her death as an ‘institutional murder’ and demanded the resignation of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio. The party also demanded the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or a judicial probe to uncover the truth and punish the real culprits.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters in Delhi, Mumbai Congress chief and Lok Sabha MP Varsha Gaikwad, and senior spokesperson of the Maharashtra Congress Atul Londhe-Patil said the victim, who was working as a medical officer at a Satara hospital, was forced to take the extreme step because of political pressure, blackmail, and sexual exploitation under a well-planned conspiracy.

“Earlier she had resisted pressure from the officials of a sugar mill owned by former BJP MP Ranjeetsinh Naik Nimbalkar. She was being forced to issue fake fitness certificates to mill workers and to alter post-mortem reports, which she had refused. She had been continuously harassed and blackmailed, and despite complaints to her seniors and police, no action was taken,” Gaikwad said.

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Londhe-Patil demanded that Fadnavis must resign as Chief Minister and state Home Minister for this incident. They added that the Congress will launch an agitation if the government does not take strong action in the matter.

Expressing disappointment with the Maharashtra Women’s Commission, Gaikwad said it had not even met the victim’s family and had instead engaged in her character assassination.

The victim’s family complained that State Women’s Commission chairperson Rupali Chakankar, instead of meeting them, chose to meet the accused. Chakankar had recently released a statement, which was seen as raising questions over the victim’s behaviour.

NCP chief and deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday spoke to the family over the phone and expressed his disagreement with the comments made by Chakankar, who is also the president of NCP’s women wing. “I do not support anything said by her. It is wrong…I will come and meet you personally during my next visit to Beed district,” Pawar said to the victim’s family over phone.

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