Cop, techie named by Maha doc in suicide note held

The police on Saturday arrested a sub-inspector and a software engineer in connection with the alleged suicide of a 28-year-old woman doctor in Maharashtra's Satara district, an official said.

Sub-Inspector Gopal Badane, who was absconding after a case of abetment of suicide was registered against him, surrendered before the Phaltan Gramin police station and was taken into custody, the official said.

Earlier in the day, the police had arrested software engineer Prashant Bankar in connection with the case.

The doctor, hailing from Beed district in the Marathwada region of central Maharashtra and posted at a government hospital in Satara district, was found hanging in a hotel room at Phaltan town on Thursday night.

In the suicide note written on her palm, she alleged that Badane raped her on multiple occasions, while Bankar mentally harassed her.

A case of rape and abetment of suicide was registered against the duo at Phaltan.

After the arrest, Bankar was produced before a Satara court, which sent him to police custody for four days, according to the official.

According to the police, Bankar is the son of the landlord of the house where the doctor resided.

She had allegedly called him over the phone and chatted with him before ending her life, they said.

Earlier, Badane had been suspended from service after his name came up during the probe.

The doctor, meanwhile, was cremated at her native place in Beed's Wadwani tehsil on Friday night.

Her relatives demanded capital punishment for the accused in the case.

She complained multiple times about harassment, but her grievances were not addressed, a relative alleged while talking to a TV channel.

Another relative claimed the victim was pressured to change medical reports at the sub-district hospital where she worked.

"Politicians at Phaltan often asked her to change medical reports as she used to be regularly on autopsy duty. She had complained multiple times against the Badane, but her complaints were not looked into," the relative said.

"Just apprehending the accused is not enough. They should be hanged to ensure justice to the doctor and her family," said the relative.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve hit out at Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, over the doctor's suicide and the name of a police officer cropping up in the case.

"There is a need for women's security more than that of 'Ladki Bahin' (a financial scheme for women from low-income families). If people who flourished under the wings of Fadnavis are harassing women in such a manner, then Fadnavis has failed as the Home Minister and should resign," Danve wrote on X.

BJP MLA Suresh Dhas demanded that an MP who allegedly tried to pressurise the woman doctor be made an accused in the case.

"Investigation will reveal who the MP and his aides involved in threatening her are. If they are involved, no matter who they are, they should be made accused in the case," said the MLA from Ashti in Beed district. — PTI