Mumbai: Doctor 'tortured by seniors' hangs self, FIR against three

MUMBAI: Hours after performing two surgeries, a 26-year-old doctor, pursuing second year MD in gynaecology at BYL Nair Hospital, hanged herself at the college hostel on Wednesday. Parents of the deceased Dr Payal Tadvi , who hailed from Jalgaon, demanded that an FIR for abetment to suicide, ragging be registered besides sections under the Atrocities Act against three doctors at the hospital who allegedly tortured her to end her life.
An FIR has been registered and the three doctor students-Dr Hema Ahuja, Dr Bhakti Mehar, Dr Ankita Khandilwal. They have been booked for abetment to suicide and under the Atrocities Act. No arrest has been made. Payal's cousin, Nilesh Tadvi, said, "She had told us about her three seniors who tortured her mentally... just because she belonged to a lower caste," said Nilesh. An accidental death report has been filed at Agripada police station.
A representative of Maharashtra Association if Resident Doctors (Mard) said that Tadvi had done two surgeries earlier in the day. "She didn't show any signs of stress. She went to her room soon after. About 3-4 hours later, her body was discovered after she didn't answer the door. Doctors tried to give her CPR for 45 minutes but she didn't respond," said the representative. The hospital management then informed the police.
Payal's mother, Abeda, who has cancer, said that she used to come from Jalgaon to Nair Hospital for treatment. "Even when I came here, the three doctors did not allow my daughter to meet me. On Wednesday, she called me up. She was crying and told me that she was going through mental torture by these three doctors," said Abeda.
Relatives said the doctors had a Whatsapp group where the three doctors would humiliate Payal using "casteist slurs". "We are submitting chats to the police," said a relative.
A senior management official of Nair Hospital said the case has come as a surprise as the student had not approached any teacher or the anti-ragging committee. "We have handed over the probe to the police. The anti-ragging panel will also look into it," said the official. The college was non-committal on any immediate action against the doctors. "There were some work issues which were resolved by the head of the unit," the official said.