Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday spoke with the family members of the woman doctor from Maharashtra’s Satara who allegedly died by suicide and assured his support in their fight for justice.
According to sources, the doctor's family urged Rahul to put pressure on the government for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into her death, expressing concern that evidence might be destroyed as a week had already passed since her death.
Rahul assured them that he would press the government to constitute an SIT for the investigation.
Rahul, who is campaigning in Bihar on Wednesday, spoke to the deceased’s parents and siblings over the phone of Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal who visited them at Kavadgaon village in Beed district.
On Sunday, in a social media post, Rahul had asserted that the doctor's death exposed the "inhumane and insensitive" face of the Devendra Fadnavis administration.
"A promising doctor daughter, who aspired to alleviate the pain of others, became a victim of the persecution by criminals entrenched in a corrupt system and power structure," he wrote on X.
The Rae Bareilly MP said, “The very authority tasked with protecting the public from criminals committed the most heinous crime against this innocent woman—rape and exploitation.”
Rahul further said, "When power becomes a shield for criminals, from whom can justice be expected? Dr. Sampada’s death exposes the inhumane and insensitive face of this BJP government."
On Tuesday, the victim’s sister had claimed that the lines scribbled on the palm of her dead sister did not match with her handwriting. She alluded that those lines were written by someone else.
The woman hailing from Beed district of central Maharashtra and posted at a government hospital in Satara district, was found hanging in a hotel room in Phaltan town on the night of October 23.
In the suicide note written on her palm, she alleged that police sub-inspector Gopal Badane had raped her on multiple occasions, while Prashant Bankar, a software engineer, mentally harassed her. The sub-inspector and the engineer were arrested on October 25.
Addressing a news conference in Pune, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare on Tuesday raised several questions regarding the incident.
“Why did the doctor go to that hotel at midnight? What prompted her to go there at 1 am? Was she summoned there or did she go on her own? The doctor’s sister is saying the handwriting on the doctor’s palm is not hers. If it isn’t hers, then whose is it?” asked Andhare. “The original suicide note may have been removed or tampered with, as it seems unlikely that someone who could write a four-page letter would end her life with just four lines written on her hand. Did the doctor really die by suicide, or was she murdered?”
She alleged the hotel where the doctor was found hanging belongs to one Bhosale who is close to former BJP MP Ranjitsinh Naik Nimbalkar.
Andhare criticised the police for the rushed removal of the doctor’s body, questioning why they did not wait for the family to arrive before taking custody of the body after confirming her identity.
Denying the allegations, Nimbalkar claimed his name was being dragged into the issue unnecessarily.
Defending Nimbalkar, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis called the charges against the former MP were politically motivated.
“Ranjitsinh’s name is being dragged without reason. If I had even the slightest suspicion, I would not have attended this event (organised by Nimbalkar on Tuesday). Politics is being played over a tragedy,” Fadnavis said, assuring full party support to the BJP leader.
