Payal Tadvi suicide case: Head of Gynaecology department suspended

Mumbai, May 28: Almost a week after a second-year student of Gynaecology and Obstetrics department was found hanging in her hostel room in Mumbai city, the Head of the Gynaecology department, at BYL Nair Hospital, Dr S D Shirodkar was suspended until further notice.

The mother of Payal Tadvi, the postgraduate resident doctor who committed suicide in Mumbai, had said three women doctors had called the 26-year-old "nichle jaati ke log" and said she should not be allowed to study the course.

Based on her complaint, the Agripada police have registered a complaint under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), SC/ST Atrocities Act, Anti-Ragging Act and Information Technology Act, 2000.

Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had suspended the licences of four doctors - three senior medical students and a department head accused of abetting the incident.

Payal had started her MD in the Topiwala National Medical College, which is associated with the BYL Nair Hospital, in 2018. The three doctors who allegedly harassed her - Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Mehare and Ankita Khandelwal - were in the third year. Payal is from the Tadvi Bhil community and was married to a doctor, Salman. Her parents Abeda and Salim Tadvi live in Jalgaon, 400km from Mumbai.

The three women doctors reportedly claimed that they had written to the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) requesting "a fair investigation to give justice", without falling to prey to media or police pressure.