Two more doctors arrested in Payal suicide case
Mumbai, May 29: Two more doctors have been arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of a junior colleague by tormenting her with casteist slurs at a state-run hospital here, taking the total number of those arrested in the case to three, police said Wednesday.
While one doctor, Bhakti Mehere, was arrested on Tuesday after initial interrogation, the two other accused - Hema Ahuja and Ankita Khandelwal - were absconding.
"Ahuja and Khandelwal were arrested in the early hours of Wednesday by the Agripada police in central Mumbai," a senior police official told PTI.
They will be produced in a court on Wednesday, he added.
The three were booked after their junior colleague Payal Tadvi at B Y L Nair Hospital here committed suicide at her hostel last week, a senior police official said.
Tadvi, 26, hanged herself in her room last Wednesday following which her family alleged that the doctors taunted her by ragging and hurling casteist abuses as she belonged to a Scheduled Tribe.
Dr Tadvi's husband Salman and mother Abida Salim have demanded "strictest action" against the three doctors. Salman Tadvi alleges that the three doctors ragged and humiliated his wife on WhatsApp because she belonged to a Scheduled Tribe.
Protesters from the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and other Dalit and tribal organisations earlier held protests outside the hospital.
The accused have been booked under relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the Anti-Ragging Act, the IT Act and Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.
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Bihar: Over 150 children fall ill after consuming 'mid-day meal' in Saharsa
Saharsa (PTI): More than 150 children were taken ill after allegedly consuming food that was part of the mid-day meal in a school in Bihar’s Saharsa district, a senior official said on Thursday.
The incident occurred at a middle school in Baluaha village of the district.
The official said that 115 children were undergoing treatment at the Sadar Hospital, while around 50 students were admitted to Mahishi Public Health Centre.
“We received information that several children fell ill after consuming the mid-day meal in Baluaha. The children were initially treated at the primary health centre, but later, many were referred to the Sadar Hospital,” Saharsa District Magistrate Deepesh Kumar told reporters.
“According to doctors, the health condition of the children has improved, but they will be kept under observation for some time. There is no need to panic. Some kids are having mild fever. They are being treated accordingly,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, family members of some children claimed that a snake was found in the container in which cooked pulses was stored at the school.
Of the 545 students present in the school, 200 had already eaten their meals by the time the snake was spotted, and later complained of stomach ache and vomiting, they said.
Regarding the claims, the DM said food samples have been collected from the school.
“We will be able to comment on this only after the results of the tested samples arrive,” he said.
