Relationship, rape, suicide: Maharashtra doctor found dead in hotel; cousin says cops pressured her to alter reports

KOLHAPUR/PUNE: The Satara police on Friday filed a case of rape and abetment of suicide against a police sub inspector (PSI) with the Phaltan police station and another man after a 28-year-old doctor with the Phaltan sub district hospital was found dead late on Thursday evening in a hotel room near the health hub.Satara superintendent of police (SP) Tushar Doshi told TOI, "A note purportedly written by the doctor on her palm names the PSI and the other man, who is the son of her landlord, for driving her to the extreme step by subjecting her to physical and mental harassment for the last five months. Based on this note and other evidence like WhatsApp chats exchanged between her and the landlord's son, we have filed an FIR for offences under sections 64 (rape) and 108 (abetment of suicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the two named suspects.

"Doshi cited the investigation so far and said, "The doctor and her landlord's son were in a relationship for the last five months before their ties turned sour. We have no idea yet as to what went wrong between them. Her landlord tried to resolve the issue by seeking help from the PSI as he knew that the police officer also hails from Beed and knew the doctor quite well. Apart from this, there were issues between her and the police relating to cooperation in the matters of postmortem and other work involving police and the medical officer.

"Inspector General of Police (Kolhapur Range) Sunil Phulari said, "The sub-inspector is on the run. We have suspended him and have formed a special team to trace and arrest him and the other suspect. The Satara SP is supervising the case."Earlier, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis spoke to the Satara SP and directed immediate suspension of the PSI named in the note.The deceased doctor's cousin told TOI, "She had written to her superiors at the sub district hospital and to the Satara deputy superintendent of police (DySP) concerned about the police's non-cooperation in the work involving them."Satara civil surgeon Yuvraj Karape told TOI, "An inquiry panel is being set up to ascertain if the hospital superiors acted on her complaint."Police said an inquiry with the hospital staffers revealed that the doctor, who hailed from Kawadgaon village in Wadwani tehsil of Beed district and had joined the Phaltan sub-district hospital as medical officer on contract. "She was approaching the end of her second 11-month contract term," Karape said.Police said the doctor would often check into the hotel near the hospital whenever her duty was over late in the night, as her rented residence was at a faraway location. On Wednesday night, she checked in as usual but did not step out of her room until late Thursday evening. A hotel employee then knocked on her door.Police said when she did not respond, the employee alerted the manager. The hotel staff then used an alternate key to open the door and entered her room.

They found her hanging from her dupatta tied to a ceiling fan in the room. They alerted the local police, and the latter informed her family in Beed, after which her family members reached Phaltan on Friday morning.Doshi said, "We do not know whether the doctor and the PSI knew each other before moving to Phaltan. For now, we can confirm the deceased doctor was posted with Phaltan govt hospital where offenders held in various crimes are taken for medical examination.

The two started getting to know each other during this process. There were also issues between her and the police relating to cooperation in the matters of postmortem etc.

"Doshi said, "On a previous occasion, the inspector in-charge of the Phaltan police station had written to the Satara civil surgeon complaining about the Phaltan sub district hospital doctor's non-cooperation. The doctor too had written to the head of the sub district hospital raising a similar complaint against the police."The doctor's cousin said, "She told us earlier that the police would often put pressure on her to alter postmortem reports. We want the strictest punishment for those responsible for her death."Civil surgeon Karape said, "Five months ago, the police had orally complained to us that the doctor was not cooperating in matters like the conduct of post-mortems. The police complained that she would keep them waiting for hours and would often tell them that odd night hours were not the time to disturb her for post-mortems.

We then convinced her that ours is a round-the-clock service and particularly an emergency service.

"Minister of state for home Pankaj Bhoyar told reporters in Mumbai on Friday afternoon, "An investigation is going on, and strict action will be taken against whosoever found responsible in this case. A woman police officer has been sent to Phaltan to ensure that all evidence is intact."