MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to all the three accused doctors in the Dr Payal Tadvi suicide case.
Tadvi (26), a second-year postgraduate medical student, had hung herself in the hostel room of BYL Nair Hospital on May 22. Three of her senior women colleagues were accused of abetting the suicide.
The three senior doctors — Hema Ahuja, Ankita Khandelwal and Bhakti Meher — were accused of harassing Tadvi because of her caste background. They were arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by the victim’s relatives.
They were booked under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Maharashtra Prohibition of Ragging Act and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The accused trio had moved the high court after a special court rejected their bail plea on June 24.
On Friday, they were granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh each and the bench of Justice Sadhana Jadhav, which was hearing the plea, said there’s a fear that the three doctors wouldn’t be able to shake off the stigma of being named in the case as long as they remain in the profession.
The trio will also have to appear before the crime branch every alternate day and won’t be allowed to go inside the Nair Hospital, the court said adding that the licences of all three doctors to practise medicine shall remain suspended for the whole duration of the trial.
The police also suspect that the trio destroyed evidence. The three-page suicide note left by the victim also hinted at the same.
They have recovered images of the letter from the victim’s mobile phone.