Satara Female Doctor Case: Phaltan Female Doctor Incident; Resident Doctors' Strike Withdrawn

In Brief

• Phaltan Female Doctor Incident

• Resident Doctors' Strike Finally Withdrawn

• After discussions with Chief Minister Fadnavis, MARD made this decision

(Satara Doctor case) The case of a female doctor working at the Phaltan sub-district hospital in Satara district has caused a stir across the state. A shocking aspect has emerged in this incident, as the doctor wrote the names of two individuals responsible for her death on her hand before committing suicide.

Before committing suicide, the deceased doctor wrote a suicide note on her hand, in which she made shocking allegations. In that note, the doctor wrote that "PSI Gopal Badane repeatedly abused and sexually exploited her for five months, and police officer Prashant Bankar mentally harassed her." The female doctor has made serious allegations of sexual abuse and mental harassment against both of them. Both accused have now been remanded to 14 days of judicial custody in this case.

Against this backdrop, resident doctors across the state had called a strike. The resident doctors had called this strike to ensure that the investigation into the death of the female doctor in Phaltan was conducted in the right direction. During this, the OPD was closed. However, now the resident doctors have finally called off the strike, which had been ongoing for the past two days. Central MARD and BMC MARD have withdrawn the two-day statewide strike following assurances from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

After discussions between the core committee and Chief Minister Fadnavis on Tuesday night, MARD made this decision. This decision was made following discussions on the main demands in the case of Dr. Sampada Munde, and for the past two days, resident doctors from all government and municipal medical colleges in the state had participated in the strike. During this time, only emergency medical services were maintained. This work stoppage was carried out to seek justice for Dr. Sampada Munde and to implement better security measures for resident doctors in the state.