Maharashtra cop, accused of rape, arrested in woman doctor’s suicide case
Maharashtra Police Sub-Inspector Gopal Badane, accused of repeatedly raping a woman government doctor, who died by suicide, has been arrested, media reports said.
He was arrested on Saturday evening, hours after software engineer Prashant Bankar, named in the doctor’s suicide note, was detained in Pune.
According to Satara Superintendent of Police Tushar Doshi, Badane surrendered at the Phaltan Rural Police Station.
Bankar, accused of mentally harassing the doctor, was produced before a Satara district court and remanded to four days of police custody.
The 27-year-old doctor, a native of Beed district and posted at a government hospital in Satara, was found hanging in a hotel room in Phaltan town on Thursday night.
In her suicide note, written on her palm, she accused Badane of sexual assault on multiple occasions and Bankar of harassment. Police have booked both men on charges of rape and abetment of suicide.
Badane has since been suspended from service, officials confirmed.
The victim’s family has alleged that she had repeatedly complained of harassment and work-related pressure, but no action was taken.
A relative told NDTV that local political figures often asked the doctor to alter medical reports, as she was regularly assigned autopsy duties at the sub-district hospital.
Her relatives have demanded capital punishment for the accused. BJP MLA Suresh Dhas has also called for a Member of Parliament, who allegedly pressured the doctor, to be named in the case.
The doctor was cremated at her native Wadwani tehsil in Beed district on Friday night.
Family members said she had planned to pursue an MD degree and was still repaying a ₹3 lakh education loan taken for her MBBS course.
“Her father is a farmer. She was determined to continue her studies and specialize in medicine,” her uncle told NDTV.
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