Maharashtra doctor's 'suicide': Autopsy says death due to hanging; family alleges phone tampering

Beed/Mumbai: Controversy surrounds the death of a 28-year-old doctor in Maharashtra's Satara district, whose post-mortem mentioned the cause of death as "asphyxia due to hanging", but the victim's family claimed someone accessed her phone using her fingerprint to erase crucial data after her death.

The police in Satara's Phaltan town, where the doctor was found hanging in a hotel room on the night of October 23, received the post-mortem report on Tuesday, a senior police official said, adding the cause of death was cited as "asphyxia due to hanging", indicating the doctor died by suicide.

The post-mortem, conducted at a state-run hospital, included preserving the viscera for chemical analysis at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), a mandatory step in unnatural death cases.

Police also spoke about other details regarding the doctor's alleged suicide note saying that the deceased, a right-handed writer, penned a note on her palm and captured a photo of it on her mobile phone. The pen used for the note was recovered near the body, the official said.

The note accused Sub-Inspector Gopal Badane of repeated rape and software engineer Prashant Bankar, who is the son of her landlord, of mental harassment. Both were arrested on October 25.

Police said the last communication on the doctor's phone, involving a call and WhatsApp messages with Prashant Bankar, was recorded at 9:58 pm.

Furthermore, the official said there was no evidence of forced entry into the hotel room, ruling out the presence of anyone else during the incident.

In a separate development, the victim's relatives from her native Beed district have demanded constituting a Special Investigation Team (SIT) alleging that crucial data was deleted from her mobile phone after her death.

The victim's uncle claimed that her phone was accessed using her fingerprint after she died, leading to the erasing of "vital information related to the incident."

On Monday, family members of the doctor demanded that the government set up an SIT to probe the case, and said the trial should be conducted in a fast-track court in Beed, and not in Phaltan, where the incident took place.

"We were informed about the doctor's death by hanging, but by the time we reached the spot (hotel room), her body had already been taken to the hospital. We later found out that a suicide note was written on her hand," the uncle of the deceased told reporters on Monday night.

They also pointed to the deceased doctor's WhatsApp 'last seen' status, which allegedly showed activity even after her death, raising suspicion that someone else had operated the phone.

"We suspect that her mobile phone was tampered with after her death....Her WhatsApp 'last seen' status appears to show activity after her death, which raises further suspicion that the phone was operated by someone else after her death," the uncle said.

The family has also demanded that the case be heard in a Beed district court to ensure an impartial investigation.

Dr Omprakash Shete, the state government's representative coordinating with the woman doctor's family, visited her native place on Monday evening and assured the kin that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would be briefed on the matter to ensure justice. Her family also submitted a memorandum of demands to him.

Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar and Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar also spoke to the victim's family members over the phone and assured their support till justice is delivered.

Residents of Wadwani in Beed observed a bandh on Tuesday, demanding a probe by an SIT into the alleged suicide of the woman doctor who hailed from the region.

Satara Police, meanwhile, are taking steps to authenticate the suicide note. Samples of the doctor's handwriting and the photo of the note on her palm have been sent to the Maharashtra CID to check for any discrepancies.

Regarding the doctor's professional life, a police official noted that the doctor, who had been transferred from Wai as a medical officer, had renewed her contract at the Phaltan sub-district hospital at least twice.

The official suggested that she "had an option to change the place of duty" if work pressure was an issue, indicating that police are actively investigating various possible motives and angles in the case.