Maharashtra Doctor's Suicide Unveils Allegations of Forced Medical Report Falsification and Sexual Assault

The doctor wrote a suicide note on her palm

Mumbai:

The doctor in Maharashtra who died by suicide has signed a fake postmortem report, a woman from Satara has alleged. The woman, Bhagyashree Maruti Pachangne, from a village in the district, is the mother of Deepali Maruti, who, she alleges, did not die a natural death and but her postmortem report does not corroborate that.

Bhagyashree Pachangne has claimed that the doctor was under pressure to alter the postmortem report. She has also demanded a thorough investigation into her daughter's suspicious death.

Doctor's Suicide

The doctor was evidently under pressure to provide falsified medical reports. In a suicide note written on her palm, she accused police sub-inspector Gopal Badane of sexual assault and a tech professional, Prashant Bankar, of subjecting her to mental harassment.

She also referenced a former MP in another four-page suicide letter.

The doctor allegedly mentioned two personal assistants of the former MP who requested her to declare an accused individual, Malhari Channe, medically fit.

According to an unnamed relative cited by Press Trust of India, the doctor 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 was regularly assigned to autopsy duty. She had filed multiple complaints against the PSI (named in the note), but these were not addressed," the relative stated.

The incident has triggered a significant political controversy in Maharashtra, with Opposition parties alleging that the doctor was victimized by criminal elements.

Fresh Twist

The new allegations from Bhagyashree Pachangne have introduced an additional dimension to the case. According to Pachangne, her daughter was married to Ajinkya Hanmant Nimbalkar, an officer in the Indian Army.

Bhagyashree Pachangne asserts that her daughter endured persistent mental and physical abuse from her husband and in-laws. Unable to withstand the torment, she had reportedly died by suicide on August 19. However, Pachangne suggests her daughter may have been murdered.

She alleged that even five days following Deepali's death, the police failed to provide the postmortem report.

When the Pachangne family finally obtained it after a month, they discovered it was completely fabricated, she claimed. She accused Ajinkya Nimbalkar of utilizing his political and police connections to suppress the case.

"On August 17, we received a call from our son-in-law, informing us that Deepali was in critical condition and admitted to Raut Hospital in Phaltan. We were shocked, assuming that since she was pregnant, she might have fainted or fallen due to dizziness," she recounted.

Upon arriving at the hospital, her brother-in-law "informed us that Deepali had taken her life... I strongly doubt this," she stated.

"My daughter could not have done this. She was six months pregnant and had a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter-how could she leave them behind? She would never do such a thing. I believe she was murdered," she emphasized.

Arrests In The Case

Police have arrested software engineer Prashant Bankar, the son of the doctor's landlord, whom she accused of mental harassment. Subsequently, police sub-inspector Gopal Badane, whom the doctor accused of rape, surrendered to authorities.

Sub-inspector Badane was suspended from service after being implicated during the investigation of the case.

A case of rape and abetment of suicide has been registered against the two men in Satara district's Phaltan.