A 28-year-old woman doctor working at a government hospital in Satara district has died by suicide, leaving a note on her palm, accusing a police sub-inspector of rape and mental harassment, police said on Friday.
In the suicide note, the victim accused SI Gopal Badne of physical and mental abuse, and said his constant harassment forced her to take her own life.
Sources said Badne was suspended on the orders of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The CM, who also holds the Home portfolio, has directed that strict action be taken against the accused.
The doctor, who hailed from Beed district and worked at the hospital in Phaltan tehsil, was found hanging in a hotel room at Phaltan late on Thursday night, an official said.
In the note, she also accused another police officer Prashant Bankar of mental harassment.
“Police inspector Gopal Badne is the reason I died. He raped me four times. He subjected me to rape, mental and physical abuse for more than five months,” the note said.
Satara police have registered a case against Badane and Bankar under charges of rape and abetment to suicide, police said.
The doctor had raised similar allegations in a letter addressed to the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of the sub-divisional Office, Phaltan, on June 19.
Letter To DSP Months Before Suicide
In her letter to the DSP months before her suicide, the woman doctor accused the two police officers of Phaltan Rural Police Department of harassment and sought legal action against them.
She named Badne, sub-divisional police inspector Patil and assistant police inspector Ladputre in the letter. She said she was “under extreme stress, hence, requested that the serious matter be investigated and appropriate action be taken against the guilty officers”.
A relative of the doctor had claimed earlier in the day that she often faced pressure from police to change medical reports in cases of unnatural death, and also to modify reports when arrested persons were brought to the hospital for a medical test.
