Maharashtra Doctor Suicide Case: Police Officer Arrested for Rape Allegations After Victim's Death Note Reveals Abuse

PSI Badane surrendered at the Phaltan Rural Police Station following the arrest of his co-accused.

Pune/Satara:

On Saturday evening, police sub-inspector Gopal Badane was arrested in connection with the alleged suicide of a female government doctor in Maharashtra's Satara district, shortly after another suspect was apprehended.

Earlier that day, Phaltan police arrested software engineer Prashant Bankar from Pune, who was one of two men named in the doctor's suicide note.

According to Satara SP Tushar Doshi, PSI Badane turned himself in at the Phaltan Rural Police Station.

Bankar, who faces charges of mentally harassing the victim and abetting suicide, appeared before a Satara district court and was remanded to four days of police custody.

The doctor, originally from Beed district in central Maharashtra's Marathwada region and stationed at a government hospital in Satara district, was discovered hanging in a Phaltan hotel room on Thursday night.

In her suicide note written on her palm, she alleged that police sub-inspector Badane had raped her multiple times, while software engineer Bankar had subjected her to mental harassment.

Authorities registered a case of rape and abetment of suicide against both men in Phaltan, Satara district.

Police reported that Bankar is the son of the doctor's landlord. She allegedly contacted him by phone and communicated with him before taking her life.

Following the investigation that implicated him, sub-inspector Badane was suspended from service.

The doctor was cremated in her hometown in Beed's Wadwani tehsil on Friday night.

Family members are demanding capital punishment for the accused individuals.

A relative told a news channel that despite the doctor's numerous complaints about harassment, her grievances went unaddressed.

Another family member claimed she faced pressure to alter medical reports at the sub-district hospital where she was employed.

"Political figures in Phaltan frequently asked her to modify medical reports, as she regularly handled autopsy duties. She filed multiple complaints against the PSI mentioned in her note, but no action was taken," the relative stated.

BJP MLA Suresh Dhas called for the MP who allegedly pressured the woman doctor to be charged in the case, though he did not specify any particular leader.

According to a purported response submitted by the doctor earlier this year to Satara district authorities following a complaint from a subordinate police official, she experienced threats from police regarding her work methods and faced taunts about crime in her native Beed district.

Two of the woman's cousins, who are also doctors, alleged that the hospital administration deliberately assigned her post-mortem duties as a form of harassment.

The family revealed that she aspired to pursue an MD (Doctor of Medicine) degree and had been preparing for it.

Her uncle told PTI that a Rs 3 lakh loan taken for her MBBS education remained unpaid.

"Her father is a farmer with limited education. I am a teacher and brought her to Beed for schooling. She wasn't satisfied with just completing her MBBS; she wanted to pursue an MD in medicine, ENT, or non-clinical specialties," he explained.