SATARA, MAHARASHTRA — On Thursday night, October 23, a 29-year-old female doctor who worked as a medical officer on a contract basis at a government hospital in Satara’s Phaltan district was found dead by suicide in a hotel room. The tragedy has caused a lot of anger and a political storm across Maharashtra. This is because a handwritten letter on her palm came out that accused a police officer of raping her multiple times and another guy of severe mental and physical abuse.
Important Accusations and Police Action
They found the doctor hanging in her hotel room. She was from the Beed area in Maharashtra. A first look by the cops found a message in Marathi on her palm.
The note said that two males were responsible for her taking the extreme action. It said that a police sub-inspector (PSI) from the Phaltan City police station, named Gopal Badane, raped her four times. The statement further said that Prashant Bankar, the son of her landlord, had been harassing her mentally and physically for the past four to five months. Later, investigators found out that the doctor and the sub-inspector were related and both were from Beed.
Case Registered and Official Action: The Satara police filed a FIR (First Information Report) against PSI Gopal Badane and Prashant Bankar after the family complained. The charges include rape and helping someone kill themselves. Tushar Doshi, the Satara Superintendent of Police, said that Badane has been put on leave right away. But both of the accused are on the run right now, and several police teams are looking for them. The inquiry is still going on, and the victim’s body has been submitted for an autopsy.
Claims of Work Pressure and Lack of Action by Officials
The doctor’s family has made severe accusations about her work environment and past complaints, which makes the situation much more complicated.
Pressure on Medical Reports: The cousin of the dead doctor said that police and politicians had put a lot of pressure on her to make fraudulent medical reports. Some of the people who were arrested were told they had to issue “medically fit” certifications and write “wrong” post-mortem reports. He also said that she was forced to write “fit/unfit” reports without ever looking at the patients at the hospital.
The relative further said that the doctor had already made a formal complaint to the local sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) in June-July, naming three police officials, including the PSI who is now suspected of rape, since they were pressuring him to lie on reports. Satara police confirmed that she did register a report around that time, but they denied that it had anything to do with her death, saying it was “related to a different thing.”
Final Contact: A high-ranking police officer told news agency media that the doctor had texted and called one of the accused, Prashant Bankar, before she died.
Political Outrage and Calls for Justice
The tragic event has immediately become a big political issue, with the opposition parties blaming the incumbent Mahayuti government for not keeping women secure and for the collapse of law and order.
Opposition Condemnation: Sachin Sawant, a spokesperson for Congress, said in public that the “Fadnavis-led government has failed to protect women.” Sushma Andhare, who speaks for Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena group, also asked for the creation of a separate Special Investigating Team (SIT) to make sure the matter is fully and fairly investigated.
Chief Minister’s Directive: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is also in charge of the Home Department, told the police to take strong and harsh action against all the people who were charged in the case. This was in response to the mounting public and political uproar.
The police have said that they will launch a full investigation to make sure that the dead doctor gets justice.