Satara Doctor Suicide: Cop Accused of Rape Arrested After Surrendering
Police Sub-Inspector Gopal Badane, the main accused in the Satara doctor suicide case, was arrested on Saturday evening after he surrendered to the authorities. His arrest came just hours after the co-accused, software engineer Prashant Bankar, was taken into custody from Pune. Badane, who was suspended from service, is accused of raping the young doctor who detailed her horrific ordeal in a suicide note written on her palm.
The tragic case unfolded after the 28-year-old doctor, a native of Beed working at a government hospital in Satara, was found hanging in a hotel room in Phaltan on Thursday night. In the note on her palm, she alleged that PSI Badane had raped her multiple times, while Bankar, the son of her landlord, had mentally harassed her. Following the discovery, Phaltan police arrested Bankar, who has now been remanded to four days in police custody on charges of abetment to suicide. PSI Badane later surrendered at the Phaltan Rural Police Station. A case of rape and abetment of suicide has been registered against both men.
The arrests follow a wave of public and political outrage, fuelled by explosive claims from the victim’s family. Relatives allege that the doctor was under immense pressure from “political people” in Phaltan to falsify medical reports, particularly for autopsies. “She complained multiple times about harassment, but her grievances were not addressed,” a relative told a news channel, as the family demanded capital punishment for the accused. They also claimed the hospital administration deliberately assigned her post-mortem duties as a form of harassment.
The case has also taken a sharp political turn. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve accused former BJP MP Ranjitsingh Naik Nimbalkar of having once pressured the doctor over a medical report for a detained person. Nimbalkar has vehemently denied the allegation, claiming his name was being “dragged into the case deliberately.” Meanwhile, BJP MLA Suresh Dhas demanded that the MP who allegedly tried to pressure the doctor be made an accused in the case, without naming anyone.The victim’s family shared that she was an aspiring medical professional who wanted to pursue an MD degree after completing her MBBS, for which her farmer father had taken a loan that was yet to be repaid. She was cremated in her native village in Beed on Friday night as the investigation into her tragic death continues.
