Maharashtra woman doctor's suicide: Sub-inspector, techie arrested
Pune/Satara (PTI): Police have arrested sub-inspector Gopal Badane in connection with the alleged suicide of a woman government doctor in Maharashtra's Satara district, officials said.
Badane surrendered at the Phaltan Rural Police Station in Satara on Saturday evening following which he was arrested, district Superintendent of Police Tushar Doshi said.
Earlier, on Saturday morning, a team from the Phaltan police arrested software engineer Prashant Bankar, whom the doctor had named along with Badane in her suicide note, from Pune.
Bankar, accused of mentally harassing the victim and facing abetment of suicide charge, was produced on Saturday before a Satara district court which sent him to police custody for four days.
The doctor, hailing from Beed district in the Marathwada region of central Maharashtra and posted at a government hospital in Satara district, was found hanging in a hotel room in Phaltan town on Thursday night.
In the suicide note written on her palm, she alleged that police sub-inspector Badane raped her on multiple occasions, while Bankar, a software engineer, mentally harassed her.
A case of rape and abetment of suicide had been registered against the duo in Phaltan in Satara district.
According to the police, Bankar is the son of the landlord of the house where the doctor resided.
She had allegedly called him over the phone and chatted with him before ending her life, they said.
Sub-inspector Badane was suspended from service after his name came up during the probe into the case.
The doctor, meanwhile, was cremated at her native place in Beed's Wadwani tehsil on Friday night.
Her relatives demand capital punishment for the accused in the case.
She complained multiple times about harassment, but her grievances were not addressed, a relative alleged while talking to a news channel.
Another relative claimed the victim was pressured to change medical reports at the sub-district hospital where she worked.
"Political people in Phaltan often asked her to change medical reports as she used to be regularly on autopsy duty. She had complained multiple times against the PSI (named in the note), but her complaints were not looked into," the relative stated.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve accused former BJP MP Ranjitsingh Naik Nimbalkar of pressuring the doctor on one occasion in the past. Nimbalkar, however, denied the allegation, saying it had no truth, and his name was being dragged into the case deliberately.
BJP MLA Suresh Dhas demanded that the MP who allegedly tried to pressurise the woman doctor be made an accused in the case. He did not name any leader, though.
As per a purported reply submitted by the woman doctor earlier this year to authorities in Satara district after a subordinate police official complained about her, she faced threats from police officials over her way of working, and also taunts over crime in Beed, her native district.
The woman's two cousins, also doctors, alleged that the hospital administration assigned her post-mortem duties only to harass her.
According to the victim's family, she wanted to pursue the MD (Doctor of Medicine) course, and was preparing for it.
A loan of Rs 3 lakh taken for her MBBS course was yet to be repaid, her uncle told PTI.
"Her father is a farmer, he is not an educated person. I am a teacher and I took her to Beed for schooling....she did not want to stop at MBBS, but wanted to pursue MD in medicine, ENT or non-clinical branches," he said.
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India proposes preferential trade agreement with Mexico to deal with high tariffs
New Delhi (PTI): India has proposed a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Mexico to help domestic exporters deal with the steep tariffs announced by the South American country, a top government official said on Monday.
Mexico has decided to impose steep import tariffs - ranging from about 5 per cent to as high as 50 per cent on a wide range of goods (about 1,463 tariff lines) from countries that do not have free trade agreements with Mexico, including India, China, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said that India has engaged with the country on the issue.
"Technical level talks are on...The only fast way forward is to try to get a preferential trade agreement (PTA) because an FTA (free trade agreement) will take a lot of time. So we are trying to see what can be a good way forward," he told reporters here.
While in an FTA two trading partners either significantly reduce or eliminate import duties on maximum number of goods traded between them, in a PTA, duties are cut or removed on a limited number of products.
Trading partners of Mexico cannot file a compliant against the decision on imposing high tariffs as they are WTO (World Trade Organisation) compatible.
The duties are within their bound rates, he said, adding that their primary target was not India.
"We have proposed a PTA because its a WTO-compatible way forward... we can do a PTA and try to get concessions that are required for Indian supply chains and similarly offer them concessions where they have export interests in India," Agrawal said.
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Citing support for local production and correction of trade imbalances, Mexico has approved an increase in MFN (most favoured nation) import tariffs (5-50 per cent) with effect from January 1, 2026 on 1,455 tariff lines (or product categories) within the WTO framework, targeting non-FTA partners.
Preliminary estimates suggest that this affects India's around USD 2 billion exports to Mexico particularly -- automobile, two-wheelers, auto parts, textiles, iron and steel, plastics, leather and footwear.
The measure is also aimed at curbing Chinese imports.
India-Mexico merchandise trade totalled USD 8.74 billion in 2024, with exports USD 5.73 billion, imports USD 3.01 billion, and a trade surplus of USD 2.72 billion.
The government has been continuously and comprehensively assessing Mexico's tariff revisions since the issue emerged, engaging stakeholders, safeguarding the interests of Indian exporters, and pursuing constructive dialogue to ensure a stable trade environment benefiting businesses and consumers in both countries.
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Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai has said that Mexico's decision is a matter of concern, particularly for sectors like automobiles and auto components, machinery, electrical and electronics, organic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and plastics.
"Such steep duties will erode our competitiveness and risk, disrupting supply chains that have taken years to develop," Sahai said, adding that this development also underlines the little urgency for India and Mexico to fast-track a comprehensive trade agreement.
Domestic auto component manufacturers will face enhanced cost pressures with Mexico hiking duties on Indian imports, according to industry body ACMA.
