MUMBAI: The sessions court witnessed dramatic scenes on Monday as the three doctors accused of abetting the suicide of their junior Dr Payal Tadvi broke down and cried out in anguish, even accusing Tadvi's husband of trying to intimidate them.

A special court extended their judicial custody to June 21 and adjourned their bail hearing to June 17, triggering the outburst. " Yeh conspiracy hain. Police bhi unke saath mili hui hain. Sab ke sab mile hue hain (This is conspiracy. The cops are involved. Everyone is involved)," cried Dr Hema Ahuja, 28, and Dr Bhakti Mehare, 26, as cops escorted them from the 2nd-floor court room to the ground floor. Dr Ankita Khandelwal, 27, too broke down.

They kept screaming for about 10-12 minutes and seemed to turn hysterical till they were herded into a holding area to await a lift back to

jail.

We’re being tortured: Docs

Once there, Ahuja began shouting: "Salman Tadvi (Payal's husband ) ne toh humko dhamki bhi di thi. CCTV footage bhi hai uska, woh koi nain dekhta (Salman Tadvi threatened us. There is CCTV footage, but no one wants to see it)."

Outside the court, Salman denied the allegations. "I have only met them once. After Payal's death, I met them at the hospital and asked what they got out of harassing someone to the extent that she committed suicide," said Salman, who attended the hearing with Payal's mother Abeda Tadvi.

The accused doctors were produced in court at 2.45pm for their remand hearing. When the judge asked if they had any complaints of ill-treatment at the hands of the police, they shook their heads. Following Payal's suicide on May 23, the doctors were arrested on May 28-29.

During proceedings, the court deferred the bail hearing to next week, giving cops time to arrange for video recording of the proceedings. "If the police cannot make the arrangement on that day, the matter can be adjourned," said special judge P B Jadhav, reacting to a plea by Gunratan Sadavarte, a lawyer for the victim's family, for video recording under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The special public prosecutor told the court that cops could not make the arrangement as there was no budgetary allocation and that it was the state's responsibility. The court pointed out the state was represented by the police.

Defence advocate Shailesh Kharat pleaded for an earlier date for the bail hearing, saying they could provide a camera. But Sadavarte objected on the grounds that private equipment could not be used.

After the proceedings ended, Ahuja and Mehare told the court: "The cops are saying they don't have a camera, but they are lying. They have been recording us. We have already spent time in custody. June 17 is too far." They broke down even as family members tried to console them.

" Sab ke sab torture kar rahe hain. Humaari koi nahin sunta (everyone is torturing us, no one listens to us)," they were heard crying out as they were led out. The women continued crying hysterically in the holding area, ruing their careers and lives had been destroyed. "Just because someone has called us accused, we are not accused," said Ahuja. She also claimed that cops had repeatedly hit them. " Already itna maar chuke hain... Kuch bhi bolon toh lips pe maar rahen hain," she said. They have been in judicial custody since May 31 when the prosecution's plea for further police custody was rejected. They moved for bail on June 4.