Three accused in Mumbai doctor's 'suicide' sent to judicial custody till June 10

Mumbai: A special court on Friday sent three doctors of a state-run hospital, arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of a junior colleague, to judicial custody till June 10.

The accused — Bhakti Mehere, Hema Ahuja and Ankita Khandelwal — were arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of doctor Payal Tadvi by tormenting her with casteist slurs. They were produced before Additional Sessions Judge RM Sadrani at the end of their police custody.

The judge did not accept the argument of Crime Branch, which took over the case from local police Thursday, to extend their custody for further probe in the matter. He then remanded the trio to judicial custody till June 10.

The accused will be lodged in a jail here. The three doctors were booked after their 26-year-old junior colleague at BYL Nair Hospital allegedly hanged herself at her hostel room on May 22.

While Mehere was arrested Tuesday evening, Ahuja and Khandelwal were taken into custody in the early hours of Wednesday. After Tadvi ended her life, her family alleged that the doctors taunted and hurled casteist abuses at her as she belonged to a scheduled tribe.

The accused were subsequently booked under provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Anti-Ragging Act, Information Technology Act and section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.