Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Probe has advanced further into the suicide case of Dr Bala Saraswathi, who had ended her life by injecting herself with sedatives on August 1. The new assistant commissioner of police (ACP) of Shahjahanabad, NK Upadhyay, who is looking into the case now, said that the former head of gynaecology department (HoD) of Gandhi Medical college (GMC) Dr Aruna Sharma would be summoned soon.
ACP, who is recording the statements of the deceased doctor’s kin again, further said that on the basis of statements given by Dr Saraswathi’s kin, the conclusion points towards Dr Sharma, who abetted Dr Saraswathi to take the extreme step.
The officer said that he has prepared several pointers, including that Dr Saraswathi was distressed as she wanted to submit her thesis at the earliest but Dr Sharma had not been accepting her thesis and had given her extension, owing to her pregnancy, Dr Saraswathi had to take leave for a period of seven months, and that she was often criticised by Dr Sharma despite giving her best in discharging her duties.
Kin of Saraswathi, who came from Bangalore, have also confirmed that she often used to complain about the ‘toxic culture’ at GMC, and that every single effort of her to appease the senior doctors of the department has been going down the drain. Upadhyay said that verification shall also be carried out by the police regarding Dr Sharma’s conduct at the college.
It is noteworthy that just a few days after Dr Saraswathi committed suicide, the Junior doctors’ association (JUDA) had staged protest calling out Dr Sharma, after which she was removed as the HoD of gynaecology department.
