Two days after a 29-year-old government doctor took her own life, sending shock waves through Satara, Hindustan Times has learnt that the young medical officer was locked in a fierce standoff with the local police.
Documents reviewed by Hindustan Times reveal that the doctor, with the Phaltan Sub-District Hospital, had filed numerous complaints naming several police officers, even as the police had filed counter-claims against her.
In a subsequent four-page statement to a committee investigating these charges, the doctor had documented instances of alleged harassment, but one detail will haunt her family and investigators – she wrote that she was being targeted due to her Beed connection and warned that “if anything happens to me, the police will be responsible”. She had submitted her statement in August 2025; on the night of October 23, she was found hanging in her hotel room in Phaltan, in Satara.
Her death is also marked by allegations of rape mentioned in a suicide note she wrote on the palm of her hand. The doctor claimed she was raped more than once by a police officer, and harassed by another man.
In a new twist to the case, she also alleged pressure from a member of parliament (MP) to fudge medical reports on more than one occasion. When she refused, she was threatened, she claimed in her statement.
The standoff between the doctor and the police revolves around sustained pressure on her to fudge fitness certificates and post-mortem reports, to facilitate the police custody of accused individuals.
In her first letter dated June 19, 2025, addressed to the Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Phaltan, the doctor complained, using the surnames of police officers, that she had been repeatedly pressured to issue fitness certificates for accused individuals brought to the hospital. Among the officers she named was police sub-inspector (PSI) Gopal Badane, who she alleged had raped her as well.
When her complaint was ignored, the doctor on August 13, filed an RTI application with the SDPO (Phaltan), seeking details of the action taken on her June 19 complaint.
Around the same time, in July, officers from the Phaltan police station submitted a written complaint to the Satara Civil Surgeon. They accused the doctor of deliberately issuing “not fit” certificates for accused persons, which allegedly delayed arrests and custodial remand of these suspects.
The Satara Civil Surgeon thus appointed a two-member committee to inquire into the matter. In a detailed four-page written statement to this committee in August, the doctor repeated her charges against the police and also alleged political pressure. She claimed that the personal assistant (PA) of a member of parliament (MP) had called her, accusing her of favouring the accused because she hailed from Beed district. She did not name the MP.
Her statement read: “On July 31, 2025, when Phaltan Police brought an accused for medical examination, I observed that he had high blood pressure and decided to admit him for treatment. However, the police insisted on taking him back immediately.”
She further wrote that when two other accused, Malhari Chavan and Swapnil Jadhav, were brought in, she referred Chavan for a 2D Echo test in Satara and examined Jadhav locally. The fitness certificate for Jadhav was later issued as per Medical Superintendent of Satara District Dr Anshuman Dhumal’s instructions.
According to her statement, within minutes, two of the MP’s PAs arrived at the hospital and connected her to the MP over the phone. The MP allegedly scolded her for “not issuing certificates as desired by the police”.
The doctor alleged that PSI Gopal Badane once entered the emergency ward, sat on a chair, and threatened her, while her complaints to senior doctors, including Dr Anshuman Dhumal, were ignored.
Dhumal has denied the allegations. “We have not received any formal complaint in which the female doctor has accused police officials of harassing her. She had only put it before the probe committee and she was later instructed based on the outcome of the report.”
A senior Satara police officer told Hindustan Times that the deceased doctor was “reluctant to conduct pre-arrest medical examinations at night” and frequently declared accused persons unfit “without sufficient grounds”, forcing police to keep security personnel stationed at the hospital. “This disrupted the arrest and custodial process,” the officer said.
The officer also claimed the doctor had refused to make herself available round-the-clock to conduct medical formalities and so the police sought a replacement.
Civil Surgeon of Satara, Dr Yuvraj Karpe, said, “Yes, there were allegations by the police, so a two-member committee was formed. After hearing both parties in August 2025, we reminded the doctor that medical officers must be available 24×7. We noticed a drastic change in her behaviour thereafter,” he said.
Both the doctor’s letters and the police complaints are being re-examined as part of the ongoing investigation into her death.