Tadvi suicide case: Court rejects bail pleas of 3 doctors

A special court Monday rejected the bail pleas of three senior doctors of a civic hospital arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of a junior colleague.

Special court judge P B Jadhav, while rejecting the pleas of Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Meher and Ankita Khandelwal, said there was a likelihood of the accused persons absconding or tampering with evidence. The trio are in jail from May 29.

Payal Tadvi (26), a second-year postgraduate medical student attached to the BYL Nair Hospital, allegedly committed suicide in her hostel room on May 22.

Her family alleged that three of her seniors - Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Meher and Ankita Khandelwal - ragged her and hurled casteist abuses at her, forcing Tadvi to take her life.

The court observed that the accused doctors went to the hostel room after Payal's death but had no explanation why.

It also said that their whereabouts from May 23 to May 29 were not known.

"They were absconding and had not cooperated in the investigation. There is a possibility of them tampering with evidence or not remaining present for the trial," the court said.

After the court pronounced its order rejecting the bail pleas, the three accused broke down and started sobbing in court.

The trio's lawyer, Aabad Ponda, had argued that it cannot be termed as a case of abetment as the three senior doctors had only pulled up Tadvi for not doing her job properly.

Special public prosecutor Raja Thakare opposed the bail applications, and said there was prima facie material to incriminate the accused persons in the case.

Advocate Gunratan Sadavarte, appearing for the victim's family, had brought to the notice of the court a letter written by Tadvi's mother to the police commissioner which said that the three accused had threatened her and the victim's husband inside court premises.

The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the IPC and under the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.