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New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday termed the death of a woman doctor in Maharashtra’s Satara district an “institutional murder”, alleging that the tragedy reflects the “inhumane and insensitive face” of the ruling BJP government. Reacting to the incident, Gandhi said that the suicide of the 29-year-old woman doctor was a “tragedy that shakes the conscience of any civilised society.” He added, “We stand firmly with the victim’s family in this fight for justice.”
The doctor, who was posted as a medical officer on a contractual basis at a government hospital in Satara, was found hanging inside a hotel room on Thursday night. On her palm, she had written a note in Marathi claiming that she was raped four times by a police sub-inspector, identified as Gopal Badane of Phaltan City police station, and harassed for months by her landlord’s son, Prashant Bankar. Both accused have since been arrested.
According to preliminary investigation, the doctor had earlier raised concerns about pressure from police and political figures to issue fitness certificates for accused persons brought to the hospital, but no action was taken on her complaints. Police, on the other hand, alleged that she was uncooperative in issuing those certificates. The case is currently under investigation.
In a sharp attack on the ruling dispensation, Gandhi said that the “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.” “The very authority tasked with protecting the public from criminals committed the most heinous crime against this innocent woman—rape and exploitation,” he said.
Referring to some “reports,” Gandhi alleged that “some influential individuals associated with the BJP also attempted to pressure her into corruption,” though he did not specify which reports he was citing. “This is the most despicable example of a criminally protected ideology. This is not a suicide—it is an institutional murder,” Gandhi wrote in a strongly worded post on X.
“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. We stand firmly with the victim’s family in this fight for justice. For every daughter of India—no more fear, we demand justice,” he added.
