The chargesheet mentions that how Tadvi, in her suicide note, had recounted that while performing deliveries and becoming a gynecologist was her dream, it had become ‘unbearable’ for her to carry on because of her seniors (File photo)A year-long harassment, including two specific incidents on May 20 and 22, had led junior resident doctor Payal Tadvi to commit suicide and not any personal problems with her family or husband as claimed by the accused, her friend and an witness in the case had told police. The statement forms a key part of the 1,203-page chargesheet filed by the Mumbai police crime branch on Tuesday.
A second year post-graduate medical student at BYL Nair General Hospital and Tadvi’s classmate, Snehal had told the police that during their last conversation on phone, just hours before the 26-year-old committed suicide on May 22, Tadvi was troubled by the alleged harassment and was continuously crying while talking about it.
According to the chargesheet, Snehal had spoken to Tadvi around 4 pm on May 22, after her conversation with the latter’s mother Abeda, who had informed Snehal that she would rush from their hometown in Jalgaon to Mumbai.
“During the conversation, Payal spoke about the incident which took place in the operation theatre a few hours ago, when the three seniors had yelled at her in front of everyone. I can say that the incidents of that day caused her to commit suicide,” Snehal had said in her statement to the police. She also told the police that since Tadvi joined the post-graduate course, the accused doctors — Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Mehare and Ankita Khandelwal — had harassed her and kept her away from important jobs.
On May 20, for instance, they had allegedly changed Tadvi’s duty from the ante-natal care to the post-natal care in the gynaecology department, Snehal said in the statement.
“It is mandatory for second year post-graduate students like Payal to be assigned duty in ante-natal care where deliveries take place. On May 20, however, her duty was changed to the post-natal ward. This caused severe distress to her and affected her mentally. The three seniors (accused) harassed Payal from her admission at each point,” Snehal said in her statement.
“Payal was a hardworking person. She had a lot of aspirations. She was under a lot of physical and mental stress because of the behaviour towards her by the three accused. She had full support from her family, including her husband. He took care of her. She had no stress about her personal life,” Snehal also told the police. During one of the arguments before the court in May, the accused, through their lawyer, had said that the suicide could have been caused due to personal problems faced by Tadvi with her husband, Salman.
As per the chargesheet, other witnesses have revealed how Ahuja had questioned Tadvi about her marks in the entrance test and had the knowledge about her caste — Tadvi belonged to the Tadvi Bhil community, which is under the Scheduled Tribes category. Police have also included statements of Tadvi’s other classmates and hospital staffers in the chargesheet. It also mentions that one of the accused had even been warned by a classmate that their behaviour could drive Tadvi to commit suicide.
The chargesheet also mentions that how Tadvi, in her suicide note, had recounted that while performing deliveries and becoming a gynecologist was her dream, it had become ‘unbearable’ for her to carry on because of her seniors. In the suicide note, the chargesheet says, Tadvi also spoke about how since three weeks before the incident she was not allowed to even touch patients by the three accused.
The bail pleas of the three accused are expected to be heard by the Bombay High Court on Thursday.
