Laxmi puja, fight over photos, text trail: Maharashtra doctor's phone reveals details

Amid growing outrage over the alleged suicide of a woman doctor in Maharashtra’s Satara district, her family has demanded the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) and a fast-track trial, even as fresh details from her call records and text exchanges have shed light on her final hours.

The 28-year-old doctor, posted at a government hospital in Satara and hailing from Beed district, was found hanging in a hotel room in Phaltan on October 23.

In the suicide note written on her palm, she accused suspended police sub-inspector Gopal Badane of repeated sexual assault and software engineer Prashant Bankar of mental harassment. Both were arrested on October 25.

The doctor’s call records and message exchanges revealed that she had been in touch with both accused, in the days leading up to her death.

According to Maharashtra Women's Commission chairperson Rupali Chakankar, the doctor had visited accused Prashant Bankar's house on Diwali, and they had an argument after which she left.

“The call records of the deceased and the two accused reveal that the deceased was in touch with PSI Badane till March, and there was no communication between them after that,” Chakankar told reporters at Phaltan in Satara district, according to PTI.

“The CDRs also show her communication with Bankar. On Laxmi Pujan day, the deceased was at Bankar's house. Apparently, both had an argument over clicking photos as the pictures were not properly taken, leading to a quarrel. After the argument, the doctor left the house. Bankar's father went and brought her back home, but she left again to stay at a lodge,” she added.

The woman had sent messages to Bankar and indicated that she would take an extreme step, and the preliminary autopsy report indicated it was a case of suicide by hanging, Chakankar said.

Police were probing whether any other person was involved in the case, the state women's commission chairperson stated.

Referring to cross-complaints filed by the woman doctor and the police over the medical examination of arrested persons, Chakankar said the matter had been disposed of by the hospital's internal committee in July 2025.

Satara Superintendent of Police Tushar Doshi confirmed that the woman doctor was in touch with Bankar before the incident, and that there was an exchange of messages between them.

“The probe is also underway into the rape allegations mentioned in the suicide note against PSI Badane, and their joint locations and chats are being examined,” he said.

Meanwhile, family members of the woman doctor have demanded that the government set up an SIT to probe the case. The trial should be held in a fast-track court in Beed, they said at a press conference on Monday.

“We have some demands for the Chief Minister. An SIT should be formed at the earliest, and we will not go to Phaltan (where the woman died by suicide) to record our statements. The case should be tried in a fast-track court in Beed. The allegations that are being made against my sister should be verified by checking the CDR (Call Detail Records),” said a woman relative.

The complaints made by the woman doctor in the past were not heeded, and a fresh inquiry should be held into them, she added.

A male relative of the deceased woman raised questions about the surrender of suspended police sub-inspector Gopal Badane, one of the two arrested accused.

“Police kept searching for him. They formed five teams and sent them in different directions. Then how did the accused surrender a day before the CM's visit (to Phaltan)? We think he destroyed all the evidence and then surrendered,” the relative claimed. — with PTI