Payal Tadvi suicide case: Court rejects bail pleas of 3 women doctors

Mumbai, Jun 24: A special court on Monday rejected the bail pleas of three women doctors arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of one of their junior colleagues at a civic-run hospital. Special court judge P B Jadhav rejected the bail applications of Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Meher and Ankita Khandelwal, who are in jail since their arrest on May 29.

After the judge pronounced the order, the three accused broke down and started sobbing in the court. Payal Tadvi (26), a second-year post-graduate medical student attached to the B Y L Nair Hospital here, allegedly committed suicide in her hostel room on May 22.

Her family alleged that three of her seniors -- Ahuja, Meher and Khandelwal -- used to rag her and hurl casteist abuses at her, forcing Tadvi to take the extreme step. Lawyer Aabad Ponda, representing the three accused, argued in the court that it could not be termed as a case of abetment as his clients had only pulled up Tadvi for not doing her job properly. However, special public prosecutor Raja Thakare opposed the bail applications, saying there was prima facie material to incriminate the accused persons in the case.

Advocate Gunratan Sadavarte, appearing for the victim's family, brought to the court's notice a letter written by Tadvi's mother to the police commissioner, in which she had alleged that the three accused had threatened her and the husband of the deceased on the court premises. The accused have been booked under the relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the Anti-Ragging Act, the IT Act and section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

PTI