Woman doctor's 'suicide': autopsy says death due to hanging; family alleges phone tampering
Beed/Mumbai (PTI): Controversy surrounds the death of a 28-year-old doctor in Maharashtra's Satara district, whose post-mortem mentioned the cause of death as "asphyxia due to hanging", but the victim's family claimed someone accessed her phone using her fingerprint to erase crucial data after her death.
The police in Satara's Phaltan town, where the doctor was found hanging in a hotel room on the night of October 23, received the post-mortem report on Tuesday, a senior police official said, adding the cause of death was cited as "asphyxia due to hanging," indicating the doctor died by suicide.
The post-mortem, conducted at a state-run hospital, included preserving the viscera for chemical analysis at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), a mandatory step in unnatural death cases.
Police also spoke about other details regarding the doctor's alleged suicide note saying that the deceased, a right-handed writer, penned a note on her palm and captured a photo of it on her mobile phone. The pen used for the note was recovered near the body, the official said.
The note accused Sub-Inspector Gopal Badane of repeated rape and software engineer Prashant Bankar, who is the son of her landlord, of mental harassment. Both were arrested on October 25.
Police said the last communication on the doctor's phone, involving a call and WhatsApp messages with Prashant Bankar, was recorded at 9:58 pm.
Furthermore, the official said there was no evidence of forced entry into the hotel room, ruling out the presence of anyone else during the incident.
In a separate development, the victim's relatives from her native Beed district have demanded constituting a Special Investigation Team (SIT) alleging that crucial data was deleted from her mobile phone after her death.
The victim's uncle claimed that her phone was accessed using her fingerprint after she died, leading to the erasing of "vital information related to the incident."
On Monday, family members of the doctor demanded that the government set up an SIT to probe the case, and said the trial should be conducted in a fast-track court in Beed, and not in Phaltan, where the incident took place.
"We were informed about the doctor's death by hanging, but by the time we reached the spot (hotel room), her body had already been taken to the hospital. We later found out that a suicide note was written on her hand," the uncle of the deceased told reporters on Monday night.
They also pointed to the deceased doctor's WhatsApp 'last seen' status, which allegedly showed activity even after her death, raising suspicion that someone else had operated the phone.
"We suspect that her mobile phone was tampered with after her death....Her WhatsApp 'last seen' status appears to show activity after her death, which raises further suspicion that the phone was operated by someone else after her death," the uncle said.
The family has also demanded that the case be heard in a Beed district court to ensure an impartial investigation.
Dr Omprakash Shete, the state government's representative coordinating with the woman doctor's family, visited her native place on Monday evening and assured the kin that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would be briefed on the matter to ensure justice. Her family also submitted memorandum of demands to him.
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar and Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar also spoke to the victim's family members over the phone and assured their support till justice is delivered.
Residents of Wadwani in Beed observed a bandh on Tuesday, demanding a probe by an SIT into the alleged suicide of the woman doctor who hailed from the region.
Satara Police, meanwhile, are taking steps to authenticate the suicide note. Samples of the doctor's handwriting and the photo of the note on her palm have been sent to the Maharashtra CID to check for any discrepancies.
Regarding the doctor's professional life, a police official noted that the doctor, who had been transferred from Wai as a medical officer, had renewed her contract at the Phaltan sub-district hospital at least twice.
The official suggested that she "had an option to change the place of duty" if work pressure was an issue, indicating that police are actively investigating various possible motives and angles in the case.
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Siddaramaiah in 'helpless situation', under some 'compulsion', claims Cong MLA Rajanna
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Bengaluru (PTI): Amid claims that Siddaramaiah's confidants are being targeted within the ruling Congress in Karnataka, following recent actions against some party leaders, senior MLA K N Rajanna on Friday alleged that the chief minister is "helpless" and under some "compulsion" as he is not standing up to defend his people.
The comments from the former minister, who is considered close to Siddaramaiah, came after Congress took action against some of its minority community leaders--considered close to the CM--following allegations of an internal conspiracy against the party candidate in the Davanagere South bypoll held on April 9.
Rajanna himself was sacked from the Ministry last August on the instructions of the party high command, following his alleged comments criticising top party leader Rahul Gandhi's "vote theft" charge.
"There will be vested interests in the party who will try to conspire against those who have been loyal to the party and want the party to grow for the welfare of the people. Nothing can be done about it. What we expect from our chief minister is that when such a situation arises, he should stand strong, but he is not standing and that is a sad thing," Rajanna said in response to a question whether Siddaramaiah's followers were being targeted in Congress.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "... I don't know what his thinking is. But we did not expect such a helpless situation from Siddaramaiah."
When asked who had made Siddaramaiah helpless, the former minister said, "I won't say who, you understand it yourself."
"People are saying that those close to Siddaramaiah are being targeted...I don't know what compulsions Siddaramaiah has. If he tells, we can know, but he won't say. I don't know under what compulsion he is following this neutrality," he said, adding that the CM is helpless and a person becomes "helpless" when his/her voice shrinks.
The Congress recently suspended MLC K Abdul Jabbar from the party's primary membership and relieved another MLC Naseer Ahmed from the post of chief minister's political secretary. This action came after a group of Muslim leaders accused members of their own party of "conspiracy" to defeat the official candidate in Davanagere South.
Following the action against Jabbar and Naseer Ahmed, speculation is that Housing Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan may also face action during the next cabinet rejig, as these three wanted a Muslim to get the bypoll ticket in Davanagere South, which the party gave to the late MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa's grandson Samarth Mallikarjun. They also did not actively participate in campaigning.
Citing a Kannada saying that there is no punishment for the mistakes committed by the King, Rajanna, in what seemed to be a veiled dig at Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, asked, "Does sharing a stage with a person (referring to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev) who said, 'Who is Rahul Gandhi? I don't know,' not amount to indiscipline?"
Referring to AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge's statement on whether poverty could be ended by taking a dip in the Ganga at Prayagraj, he said, "...but this person (again referring to Shivakumar) goes there and compliments UP CM Yogi Adityanath for arrangements made for the Kumbh Mela. He also goes to Ambani family marriage, while Rahul Gandhi did not even accept the invitation."
"I'm not saying that action should be taken against this person too, but the party will have to observe these things also," he added.
Rajanna further pointed out that no action was taken when veteran Congress leader and late MLA from Davanagere South Shamanur Shivashankarappa made a speech seeking votes for BJP candidate B Y Raghavandra during Shivamogga Lok Sabha polls, and asked if this did not amount to indiscipline.
"The same people were at the helm then (referring to Shivakumar as KPCC chief), even a verbal warning was not given to him (Shivashankarappa)," he said, adding that, similarly no action was taken when Samarth Shamanur filed his nomination in Davanagere South before the party announced its candidate for Davanagere South-- that was also an act of indiscipline.
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