Woman doctor ends life in Maharashtra, accuses cops of rape, harassment

Pune: A woman doctor of a government hospital allegedly committed suicide in Maharashtra’s Satara district, leaving behind a note accusing two police personnel of rape and mental harassment, police said on Friday.

The victim was found hanging in a hotel room in Phaltan late on Thursday night, following which the police were alerted, an official said.

The deceased was a native of Beed district and worked at a government hospital in Phaltan tehsil, the official said.

Taking cognisance of the incident, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis spoke to the Satara superintendent of police, ordering the immediate suspension of the police officers named by the woman doctor in her suicide note.

Fadnavis, who also holds the Home Department portfolio, instructed that strict action be taken against all the accused involved in the case, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) stated in a release.

In a suicide note written on her palm, the doctor alleged that she had been raped and mentally harassed by two personnel of the Satara police over the last five months.

She wrote that sub-inspector Gopal Badane raped and sexually harassed her on multiple occasions, and another personnel, Prashant Bankar, mentally harassed her.

“We have registered a case, and the body has been sent for post-mortem. We are also investigating the allegations mentioned in the suicide note on the victim’s hand,” an official from the Satara police said.

Maharashtra Women’s Commission chief Rupali Chakankar, meanwhile, said, “We have taken cognisance of the matter and ordered Satara Police to take strict action against the accused. Teams have been deployed to hunt the accused. Those involved in this unfortunate incident will not be spared.”