Payal Tadvi, a second-year resident doctor with the B.Y.L. Nair Hospital in Mumbai Central allegedly committed suicide in her hostel room on May 22, 2019

The two absconding doctors booked for allegedly abetting the suicide of Payal Tadvi, a second year resident doctor with the BYL Nair hospital, were arrested in the early hours of Wednesday by the Agripada police.

Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Mehare and Ankita Khandelwal, all third-year resident doctors, were booked on May 23 this year, a day after Tadvi killed herself in her hostel room on the hospital’s premises. They had been on the run since then.

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According to sources, several teams from the Agripada as well as nearby police stations formed for the purpose talked simultaneously to the relatives of the accused over the course of the last two days to gain leads about their whereabouts. Dr. Mehare was arrested from Mumbai on Tuesday when she came to meet her lawyer in connection with their anticipatory bail application. Dr. Ahuja was picked up near the Andheri railway station by a team from the Agripada police station on Tuesday night and Dr. Khandelwal from Hinjewadi in Pune by a team from the Nagpada police station.

The next challenge before the police was the rule that a woman accused cannot be arrested after sunset. “As soon as we picked up Dr. Ahuja and Dr. Khandelwal, we approached a magistrate late at night and got an order signed from him permitting us to arrest them after sunset. As per law, such an arrest can only made with a magistrate’s order,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone III) Abhinash Kumar said.

The two were then taken to the office of the Assistant Commissioner of Police Deepak Kundal, Agripada division, who is spearheading the probe and placed under arrest. All the three accused were subsequently produced in court on Wednesday morning and remanded in police custody till May 31.

Investigating officers said the three accused had gone to Dr. Tadvi’s room the day she committed suicide, and this aspect needed to be probed further. “Dr. Tadvi’s mother has expressed suspicion that the trio might have found a suicide note blaming them for the extreme step and destroyed it. We will be interrogating the accused in connection with this,” the officer said.

The police, however, are still looking for evidence to substantiate the claims of Dr. Tadvi’s family that she was harassed due to her caste. Sources said that statements of over 20 witnesses had been recorded so far, but no proof of casteist slurs has come to light.

“On the other hand, Dr. Tadvi, in one of her messages to her mother, had said that the three accused do not even know her caste,” the officer said.

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Those in distress or having suicidal tendencies could seek help and counselling by calling any of the following numbers:

BMC Mental Health Helpline: 022-24131212 (24x7)

Vandrevala Foundation: 18602662345/18002333330 (24x7)

I Call – 022-25521111 (8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday to Saturday)

The Samaritans Mumbai: 8422984528/842984529/8422984530 (3 p.m. to 9 p.m., all days)