Satara suicide case: Victim had spoken to accused Prashant Bankar shortly before death, police say

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New revelations have surfaced in the death of a 29-year-old woman doctor from Maharashtra’s Satara district, who died by suicide earlier this week.

Investigators in the case have found that she had spoken over the phone with Prashant Bankar, the son of her landlord and the accused in the case, shortly before taking her life, a police officer told news agency PTI.

The officer said the two had also exchanged chat messages moments before the incident. Bankar, who has been named in the suicide note for allegedly harassing the doctor, was arrested by police on Saturday.

Police officials are now investigating phone records and the text communication that happened between the two, in order to reconstruct the sequence of events leading up to the tragedy.

Officials have said that the probe experts are exploring all angles, including potential harassment or personal disputes, to understand what pushed the victim to end her life.

The deceased, a 29-year-old medical officer posted on contract at a government hospital in Phaltan, Satara, was found hanging inside a hotel room on Thursday night. Reports suggest she left behind a four-page suicide note, in which she made serious allegations against several people.

NDTV reported that according to the suicide letter, she was repeatedly pressured by police officials, and once even by a Member of Parliament and his two aides, to issue fake fitness certificates for accused persons in criminal cases.

She alleged that her refusal to comply led to continued harassment by police officials, media reports said. In addition to the handwritten letter, investigators also found a note written on her palm, where she accused sub-inspector Gopal Badane of repeatedly raping her and Prashant Bankar of mentally tormenting her.

Following these revelations, police have registered a case of rape and abetment to suicide against both men.

A team from Phaltan police tracked down and arrested Bankar, a software engineer, from Pune on Saturday. Badane, the police officer named in the case, is also under investigation.