NEW DELHI: In a shocking incident, a postgraduate student of gynaecology, Dr Payal Salman Tadvi commit suicide after being allegedly facing harassment at the hands of three senior doctors.
The incident occurred on Wednesday night of May 22 at the government-run BYL Nair Hospital in Mumbai Central, where she was found hanging at the premises.
Dr. Payal belonged to Bhil Muslim community, a Muslim tribal group in Maharashtra. She hails from Jalgaon district, joined the PG course in gynaecology at the Topiwala National Medical College. All the three doctors accused of harassing her on the pretext of her social identity and Payal, unable to bear this, committed suicide.
According to News 18 reports, Abeda Tadvi, mother of Dr Payal, alleged that her daughter’s complaints to her lecturers were ignored.
“I spoke to her around 4pm that day and she told me that she was being mentally tortured. She had complained to me earlier as well and I had requested the lecturers to address the issue but they ignored it. I also tried to meet the dean, but I was not allowed. I want justice for my daughter. The medical registration of the girls who harassed my daughter should be suspended,” she said.
Her husband Dr Salman also complained about the harassment to the department. “She first complained about the harassment in December. I met head of the department Dr Shirodkar. After this, Payal’s unit was changed for two months, but when she returned to the same unit after two months, the harassment continued.”
Her husband Dr Salman also complained about the harassment to the department. She didn’t answer constant door knocks and was later discovered hanging by a dupatta from a ceiling fan. She was rushed to emergency but doctors declared her dead on arrival.
An FIR under sections from the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on the complaint given by the victim’s mother has been registered against the three senior but none of them have been arrested yet.
The administration of the BYL Nair Hospital had formed an anti-ragging committee to probe into the suicide, while Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) has suspended the three accused doctors.
Denying the allegation of caste-based discrimination, the three accused doctors – Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Mehar, and Ankita Khandilwal have urged the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) to ensure ‘fair’ probe into the whole issue.