Mumbai: The statements of a senior doctor from BYL Nair Hospital nails the three women doctors arrested for abetting the suicide of their junior -– Dr Payal Tadvi.
In her statements to the Mumbai Police, the senior doctor has said that she had cautioned the trio, specifically with regards to Dr Tadvi.
The senior doctor, who is also a colleague of the trio, had asked them to desist from misbehaving with Tadvi and some others, as they may be pushed to a brink and commit suicide.
In her statements, the senior doctor referred to an incident in October 2018, wherein Dr Hema Ahuja and Bhakti Mehere had torn the case papers of some patients, which were prepared by Dr Tadvi’s room-mate. This room-mate was also a victim of harassment and torture, it is alleged.
“This was for the third time I had seen them (Ahuja and Mehere) tearing the papers prepared by Dr Tadvi and her room-mate. When I asked them to stop, they asked me to keep out of it,” the senior colleague has said.
“At this, I warned them that if they do not stop, then one of their juniors might commit suicide. I also told them that their behaviour was an open secret and no one would come forward to support them,” the senior colleague told the police.
According to this senior colleague, on the day Dr Tadvi committed suicide, the three women seemed tense. “Since evening I the three doctors were tense as Dr Tadvi was not answering their calls. They went out of the room and discussed something but when I tried to pry, they said everything was okay,” the statement states.
“At about 7:30, when I left my room to attend to work, I saw Dr Hema doing something near the dustbin. I asked her if she was okay, she said nothing. But later on, another doctor in the hospital told me that Dr Tadvi has committed suicide,” the senior doctor has said.
The senior further goes on to state how ‘unnaturally’ the trio behaved after Dr Tadvi’s death and how they suddenly disappeared after the police registered a case.
The senior doctor has further said that initially she shared her room with Dr Tadvi and the accused Dr Mehere; however, within a month the former left their room. She further said that Dr Ahuja was an arrogant and short tempered woman, who would often show disrespect to senior doctors of the hospital.
In her five-page statements, the senior doctor referred to several instances, wherein she found Dr Tadvi and also her roommate crying on the hospital premises.
“I had asked them not to cry and instead complain to the head of department about any issues they were facing. At that time, Dr Tadvi had told me that the trio were giving her too much work,” the senior doctor has said.
“In fact, I have seen the trio sitting in one corner of the ward, doing nothing. They dumped all their work on Dr Tadvi and her room-mate and would never make any rounds in the ward or make any notes. They used to only put their names on files,” the senior doctor further said.
