Dr Payal Tadvi Suicide case: Accused trio gets bail with riders

With strict conditions, Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to three doctors accused of abetting a suicide, harassment, and ragging in the case pertaining to the suicidal death of post-graduate student Payal Tadvi attached with the BYL Nair hospital.

The court directed the trio - Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Mehare and Ankita Khandelwal to pay a cash bond of Rs 2 lakhs each and present themselves before the crime branch every alternate day.

The three accused have also been restricted from leaving the city without the court's permission and asked to refrain from entering the Nair hospital. The court has also suspended their medical license till the the conclusion of trial.

The special court had rejected their bail application on June 24 stating that they might tamper evidence or try to abscond.

The three accused have spent over two months in jail after their arrest in late May.

Payal Tadvi, 26, a second-year Gynecology student at the BYL Nair hospital had ended her life on May 22. Her family in a complaint had blamed the three doctors, who were her seniors, of harassing her with casteist remarks.

Case File

• The three doctors, Hema Ahuja, Ankita Khandelwal and Bhakti Meher — were arrested for allegedly abetting Tadvi’s suicide and were in judicial custody
• Pictures of the suicide note as well as photos of the three accused doctors were found in the victim’s mobile phone during forensic examination of the device
• Tadvi’s family had accused the three of ragging and hurling casteist abuses at her