Raped by ‘relative’ four times: Disturbing details in Maharashtra doctor suicide case

One of the accused Prashant Bankar was arrested today

A 28-year-old woman doctor working at government hospital in Maharashtra’s Satara district died by suicide. The doctor, hailing from Beed district and employed in Phaltan, was found dead by hanging in a hotel room on Thursday night, October 23.

In a written note on her palm, the doctor claimed she had been raped and mentally harassed for around four to five months at the hands of a police sub-inspector and a software engineer.

She alleged sub-inspector Gopal Badane raped her multiple times while Prashant Bankar, a tech professional from Pune, subjected her to constant mental harassment.

According to a Hindustan Times report, the suicide note mentioned that she was raped four times by Badane. An officer investigating the case revealed that the victim and the now-suspended sub-inspector were family relatives and originally belonged to Beed, the report added.

Police have booked both Badane and Bankar for rape and abetment to suicide. While Bankar has been arrested and is set to be produced in court on Saturday, the suspended cop Badane is on the run, and teams are trying to locate him.

Satara Superintendent of Police, Tushar Doshi, told ANI on Saturday that Bankar, one of the two accused in the suicide case, has been arrested.

“The other accused, police sub-inspector Gopal Badane, is still absconding and a search is underway to nab him,” he added.

According to the police, Bankar is the son of the landlord of the house where the doctor resided. She had allegedly called him over the phone and chatted with him before ending her life, they said.

"There was a lot of police and political pressure on her to make wrong mortem reports. She tried to complain about it. My sister should get justice," the victim’s cousin told ANI.

The doctor’s body has been sent for post-mortem and police are investigating the allegations mentioned in the suicide note on the victim's palm.