Woman doctor’s death in Satara: Family demands SIT, trial in Beed court

Family members of a woman doctor who died in Satara district of Maharashtra last week demanded the government on Monday to set up a Special Investigation Team to probe the case.

At the press conference, they said that the hearing should be held in the fast track court in Beed.

“We have some demands towards the Chief Minister. SIT should be constituted at the earliest and we will not go to Phaltan (where the woman died) to record our statements. The case should be heard in a fast-track court in Beed. The allegations made against my sister should be verified by checking CDR (Call Detail Records),” said a female relative.

He stated that the complaints made by the female doctor in the past were not taken into consideration and that a new investigation should be carried out regarding them.

A male relative of the dead woman raised questions about the surrender of suspended sub-police inspector Gopal Badane, one of the two arrested accused.

“The police continued to search for him. They formed five teams and sent them in different directions. So how did the accused surrender a day before the CM’s visit (to Phaltan)?….We think he destroyed all the evidence and then surrendered,” the relative said.

The 28-year-old doctor, who hails from Beed district in central Maharashtra and is posted at a government hospital in Satara district, was found hanging in a hotel room in Phaltan town on Thursday night.

In a note written on her palm, she alleged that police inspector Gopal Badane raped her many times and software engineer Prashant Bankar mentally abused her.

The sub-inspector and the engineer were arrested on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP Rajani Patil said that he had sent a message to Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi regarding the incident and asked for more details.

Patil spoke to reporters after meeting the family.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Sunday called the doctor’s death an “institutionalized murder” and claimed that his death exposed the “inhumane and insensitive” nature of the BJP-led government. Patil also said that after meeting the family, he came to know that he was being harassed by the health and home departments.

One of the woman’s relatives had earlier alleged that the police faced pressure to change medical reports after the suspect was taken to the government hospital in Phaltan for medical examination after his arrest.

“The investigation should be done impartially and an SIT should be constituted in this case,” Patil said. he said.

“We just say ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’. So, is this the security that the ‘double engine’ government provides to women? Women are not safe here at all,” Patil said.

Another Opposition leader, Sushma Andhare of Shiv Sena (UBT), who held a press conference in Pune, asked whether it was a murder.

“Why did the doctor go to that hotel in the middle of the night? What prompted him to go there at 1 a.m.? Was he called there or did he go there alone? The doctor’s sister says that the handwriting on the doctor’s palm is not his. If it is not his, whose is it? Did the doctor really die by suicide or was he murdered?” Miss Andha asked.

Andhare alleged that the larger conspiracy was concealed by naming only Badane and Bankar as accused.

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