Satara doctor’s suicide | Techie, PSI arrested; probing writings on deceased’s palm, not allegations of police pressure: SP

“Firstly, we are investigating her complaint regarding an alleged sexual assault on her by Gopal Badane. Bankar has been arrested,” Satara Superintendent of police Tushar Doshi told The Indian Express. Bankar was remanded to four days police custody by a local court.

The police, based on a complaint lodged by the doctor’s family, have registered an FIR against the PSI and Bankar on charges of rape and abetment to suicide. Both the PSI and doctor hail from Beed district. The doctor was working as a medical officer on an 11-month contract since 2023 with Phaltan hospital.

Prashant Bankar is the son of the doctor’s landlord. Bankar is a software engineer and was found hiding at a friend’s farmhouse in Pune district. He was taken into custody on Friday and arrested Saturday morning.

The doctor was found dead inside a hotel room in Phaltan on Thursday night. A note written on her palm alleged that PSI Gopal Badane had raped her four times. The note also alleged Prashant Bankar harassed her physically and mentally for five months.

Doshi said the doctor’s complaint had said that the police put pressure on her to issue certificates for to accused individuals, showing them to be medically fit. “She had complained that police pressured her to change the medical certificate issued for an accused, showing them to medically fit instead of certifying them as medically unfit,” he said.

In June, this year, the doctor had written a complaint to Satara police that police personnel were putting pressure on her to provide medically-fit fitness certificates to arrested accused individuals.

The SP said the police on the other hand complained that the doctor deliberately issued certificates to the accused, showing them to be medically unfit which, then gave them an opportunity to get admitted to a hospital and seek treatment. “The police complained that this led to a delay in their investigation,” he said.

“The doctor and Bankar had a friendship,” Doshi said.

The family of the deceased doctor alleged that she was under pressure and had complained to her superiors and police.

“She had informed her seniors that she was under physical and mental harassment but no action was taken in the matter. She was under pressure to falsify medical certificates,” her relatives said in Beed while they demanded justice for her.

Doshi scotched at the possibility there was any pressure on the doctor and that the issue of the medical certificate was significant. “If there was any pressure on the doctor, why would she seek to renew her contract in the hospital?” He said.

Doshi said, “We are not investigating the part related to any pressure on the issue. The doctor has mentioned rape as the reason behind her suicide on her palm. Her brother has identified her handwriting… We are investigating this part. As far as our investigation is concerned, we are only probing what she has written on her palm. Whether there was pressure on her or not, it is not part of the investigation as it does not relate to the suicide.”

Doshi said prima facie, it was a case of suicide. “But we will investigate all possibilities like we do in all suicide cases,” he said.

Satara civil surgeon Dr Yuvraj Karpe said after the disputes between the doctor and the police, a two-member committee was set up in July. “The police had complained to us in writing that the doctor was not cooperating with them. The committee then submitted its report in August. After that we had given the doctor instructions to cooperate and coordinate with the police,” Dr Karpe said.

On allegations that the police put pressure on her, Dr Karpe said, “We had not received any such complaint from the doctor, either in writing or orally. I had visited the hospital four to five times and also met her. During this time, she never gave any such complaint. I had instructed her to coordinate with the police. Our directors had also visited the hospital and instructed her to cooperate with the police.”

Dr Karpe said the government hospital rarely issued fitness certificates to accused persons showing them to be unfit. “If the accused are shown as unfit, then they are admitted to hospital. But we rarely issued certificates showing the accused to be unfit. Such certificates are one in 50 cases.”

District Collector Santosh Patil said, “The police had complained that as per BNS, if they have to arrest any person, a medical inspection was mandatory. If the person is medically fit only then he is taken into custody and interrogated. Otherwise, if they are certified as medically unfit, then they have to be admitted to the hospital. In such a case, the police not only have to admit the accused in the hospital, but also have to provide police security. This leads to delay in the entire investigation. The police complained that the doctor used to tell them not to bring the patient for medical inspection in the evening hours…In this case, a committee was set up in July to probe the matter.”

–with PTI inputs