The shocking case of the alleged suicide of a female doctor from Maharashtra has sparked a reaction from Congress MP and the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi. Meanwhile, in a significant development, police arrested Sub-Inspector Gopal Badane after he surrendered at the Phaltan Police Station. The woman was reportedly found hanging in a hotel room late Thursday night under mysterious circumstances.
Badane has been absconding since his suspension, and has been accused of repeatedly raping a woman doctor and driving her to suicide. The arrested individual will be produced before the court on Sunday.
This was the second arrest in the case as police arrested another accused, Prashant Bankar, the son of the deceased doctor’s landlord, on Saturday. Bankar has been charged with mentally harassing the doctor, whose name appeared alongside Badane’s in her four-page suicide note and in a message written on her palm before her death.
Rahul Gandhi Demands Justice For Maharashtra Doctor
Rahul Gandhi, in a post on the social media platform X, stated that the woman was driven to “despair by rape and harassment, is a tragedy that shakes the conscience of any civilised society.”
“A promising doctor daughter, who aspired to alleviate the pain of others, became a victim of the persecution by criminals entrenched in a corrupt system and power structure,” the Congress leader added.
“The very authority tasked with protecting the public from criminals committed the most heinous crime against this innocent woman—rape and exploitation,” he added.
In his post, Rahul Gandhi also cited some “reports” and talked about the alleged involvement of a politician, “some influential individuals associated with the BJP also attempted to pressure her into corruption.”
“This is the most despicable example of a criminally protected ideology. This is not a suicide—it is an institutional murder,” he added in the post.
“We stand firmly with the victim’s family in this fight for justice. For every daughter of India—no more fear, we demand justice,” he elaborated in the post.
Maharashtra Doctor Suicide Note
According to officials, the woman was a government medical officer posted at the Phaltan sub-district hospital in Satara, was a native of Beed district. In her suicide note, she accused Sub-Inspector Gopal Badane of raping her four times and Prashant Bankar of continuous mental harassment.
Moreover, the deceased also mentioned that a Member of Parliament (MP) and his personal assistants had pressured her to falsify medical reports for accused individuals in criminal cases.
IANS reported that the deceased doctor’s note revealed that she had been subjected to physical and mental torture for over five months. It also mentioned that she had lodged as many as 21 complaints with various authorities, but no effective action was taken.
In one incident described in her note, the doctor claimed she was threatened by an MP over the phone for refusing to issue a false medical certificate.
Her cousin also made similar allegations about the doctor being made to falsify medical certificates.
Police Action
As per IANS, police confirmed that both accused have been booked at the Phaltan Police Station under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Satara Superintendent of Police Tushar Doshi stated that a detailed investigation is underway into the rape allegations, the harassment claims, and the possible involvement of political figures.
