Payal Tadvi suicide: Witness blames 3 accused doctors for abetment

MUMBAI: In her statement to the police in Dr Payal Tadvi’s suicide case, her colleague, who is one of the key witnesses, has categorically blamed the three accused doctors for abetting the suicide. “Since day one, resident doctors Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Mehare and Ankita Khandelwal would ill-treat Tadvi over every small thing, humiliate her and due to this harassment she committed suicide,” the colleague said. Tadvi had hanged herself in the hostel room of BYL Nair Hospital on May 22.
The witness denied that Tadvi took her life due to domestic issues. “She was content and had the support of her family and husband (Dr Salman Tadvi)...She got along with everyone and was in touch with senior doctors and teachers. Payal was competent and accomplished in her work.”
The witness is among the 150 whose statements form part of the chargesheet filed by the city crime branch on Tuesday. During previous hearings, the defence had suggested that Tadvi may have ended her life due to family issues, and pointed out that despite being married, she stayed in the hostel. Her husband had denied the claims.
The witness said on May 20, the trio had removed Tadvi from post-natal care (PNC) duty and moved her to ante-natal care. She added that Tadvi’s place in PNC was given to a junior, which was perceived as a demotion by Tadvi. “Due to this incident, her mental health had deteriorated.”
The witness also referred to an incident on the day of the suicide when the accused had shouted at Tadvi in the operation theatre in front of staff and patients. Tadvi had reportedly left crying. The witness said she last spoke to Tadvi over the phone on May 22 at 4.30pm. “She was crying bitterly... This is the incident that finally led her to commit suicide.” In the suicide note, pictures of which were recovered from Tadvi’s phone, she had said that the sustained harassment by the accused had become unbearable. Tadvi also described how she was not allowed to touch patients and barred entry in the delivery ward for three weeks. She also apologised to her family in the note.
Also part of the chargesheet is the statement of another witness who said that on one occasion when the accused humiliated Tadvi, she told one of them not to harass someone to such an extent that they could commit suicide. Tadvi’s other colleagues told cops that she had told them about the trio making caste-based comments.