Tadvi suicide case: Chargesheet against 3 lady doctors

Two months after Payal Tadvi, a junior doctor, committed suicide following harassment and casteist slurs by three senior lady doctors, the Mumbai Police on Tuesday filed a charge sheet against the accused.

Tadvi (26), a tribal-Muslim, who had last year joined the Topiwala National Medical College, which is attached to the BYL Nair Hospital, ended her life on May 22 by hanging herself.

The Mumbai Crime Branch-CID had taken over the case from the Agripada police station after directives of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio.

The charge sheet was filed against Hema Ahuja (28), Bhakti Mehare (26) and Ankita Khandelwal (27).

Meanwhile, in a related development, the Bombay High Court on Thursday will decide on the bail application of the three accused.

Earlier, a special court that handles cases related under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, had rejected their bail plea.

Tadvi, who was from the Adivasi Tadvi Bhil community, which is a Scheduled Tribe, hailed from Jalgaon. She was married to Salman Tadvi.

The Bombay High Court, while hearing the bail plea, observed: “When it comes to regular bail (once charge sheet is filed), three factors need to be considered. First, if the accused persons will flee or abscond. Second, if they will tamper with the evidence or witnesses. And third, if the accused will cause harm to society in general.”

The counsel of the accused, Aabad Ponda, said that if the investigation was over, the accused were not required to be in jail.

The accused have been booked under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant provisions of the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.