A Mumbai court on Friday sent all three doctors arrested on the charge of abetting the suicide of medical student Payal Tadvi to judicial custody till June 10, PTI reported. On Wednesday, a special court in the city had remanded the three doctors – Bhakti Mehere, Hema Ahuja and Ankita Khandelwal – to police custody till May 31. The investigation was handed over to the Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Thursday.
Tadvi, who belonged to the Bhil Adivasi community, committed suicide on May 22 after allegedly facing casteist abuse from the accused at the Topiwala National Medical College in Mumbai, where she worked.
The three doctors denied the accusations in a letter to the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors on Wednesday, and demanded a “fair inquiry”. The association, however, suspended them on the basis of findings of a preliminary investigation.
The state health department’s anti-ragging committee has found prima facie evidence that Tadvi faced casteist abuse. A report was submitted to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences on Tuesday.
Tadvi’s autopsy report stated “evidence of ligature mark over the neck”. The counsel for Tadvi’s family, Nitin Satpute, alleged she had been murdered. “From the circumstances of her death and bruise mark on her body, we can say that it must be a case of murder and not of suicide,” he said.
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