COURT ALLOWS 3 ACCUSED DOCS TO GO HOME

MUMBAI: The sessions court on Saturday allowed three doctors facing prosecution charges in the Dr Payal Tadvi suicide case to return to their native homes, as their landlords have asked them to vacate their houses in the city in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The court has, however, asked the three accused – Dr Ankita Khandelwal, Dr Bhakti Mehare and Dr Hema Ahuja – to return to Mumbai by April 1.

Last week, the accused had approached the special court for permission to return to their homes after their respective landlords asked them to vacate the premises. Khandelwal hails from Akola, while Mehare is from Amravati and Ahuja from Madhya Pradesh.

Tadvi, a second-year medical student at BYL Nair Hospital, committed suicide on May 22 last year. The three accused, who are out on bail, were her seniors and have been charged with abetting her suicide by subjecting her to caste-based harassment, as well as destroying evidence.

“Considering the present scenario due to the outbreak of Covid-19, it is a matter of common knowledge that hotels and guest houses are being shut and vacated to avoid further spread of the disease. Considering these circumstances, it is clear that the applicants will have no place to stay in Mumbai. When the entire world is fighting to check the pandemic, it is against human rights to ask the accused to stay in Mumbai despite not having a place to reside in the city,” the court observed.

The accused requested the court to relax the condition under which the bail was granted on grounds that with no permanent place to reside, it is not safe for them to remain in Mumbai in the wake of the outbreak. They also pleaded that they would travel by a private transport, amid health concerns owing to the outbreak.