Rehab centre tries to pass off inmate suicide as cardiac arrest

NAVI MUMBAI: The chairman of a trust that runs a deaddiction centre in Ulwe and two caretakers were arrested after they tried to hush up a 45-year-old inmate’s suicide. Shree Swami Samarth Sevabhavi Sanstha chairman Nilesh Doke (35) told the family of Gajanan Chaudhari that he had suffered a cardiac arrest and gave them a forged death certificate.
The cover came off when the family, which resides in Thane, spotted injury marks on the body and sent the body for a post-mortem. A provisional report of Thane civil hospital stated that death was caused due to hanging. A report by the department of forensic medicine at Grant Medical College has stated the provisional cause of death as ‘evidence of ligature mark around the neck with head injury with multiple injuries over the body”. However, the final opinion has been reserved, pending chemical analysis report. The murder case has been registered.

An officer said, “The police initially registered an accidental death report but later they carried out a probe and arrested Doke (35) and the two caretakers. Doke has told the police that he feared that the suicide would malign the image of his trust and hence, he got a false certificate from a BAMS doctor, Priyanka Dhamale (24).”

When Doke, who is said to be PhD in finance, was questioned by Chaudhari’s family about the injury marks on the body, he tried to flee. The family nabbed him and called the police.

The officer said, “We have recorded statements of other inmates. The statements corroborate with the accused’s version. Late on February 28, Chaudhari turned violent and insisted that he be sent home as he was not able to get alcohol. The two caretakers informed Doke, who told them to give him a sedative. Doke said since it was past 2.30am, he will visit the patient in the morning. But when Chaudhari broke a window grille and tried to strangulate himself, the caretakers got scared. Thereafter, when Chaudhari went to the toilet, they bolted the door from outside. In the morning, they found him hanging by the window.”

Inspector Ravindra Patil said, “The role of the doctor who issued the death certificate is being probed.”

The centre reportedly had no psychiatrists or counsellors on rolls. “Counsellors, psychiatrist and practitioners are on call, they have not been permanently appointed at the centre.”

In 2017, psychiatrist Dr Harish Shetty had written to the public health department and the department of health services (DHS) highlighting the rise in number of illegal de-addiction centres. He said a lot of these centres were run by quacks and non-professionals.

“Substance use disorder is a psychiatric illness and needs to be brought under the ambit of licensing by the state. These centres are money-making rackets and violate human rights by beating patients up, providing unscientific treatment and charging huge sums of money,” he said.

Dr Sadhana Tayade, joint director at DHS, said the state has not granted licenses to rehab centres. “We only give permissions to psychiatric nursing homes and never to de-addiction centres. Under the new mental health act, de-addiction centres will come under the state’s jurisdiction and will be subject to monitoring,” she said.