Dr Payal Tadvi suicide case: Former Gynaecology head to be added as accused

Mumbai: The former head of the Gynaecology and Obstetrics Department at Topiwala National Medical College and BYL Nair Charitable Hospital, the prime suspect in the 2019 postgraduate medico Dr Payel Tadvi suicide case, is set to be added as an accused in the case. A sessions court approved the prosecution's plea on Friday.

The allegations against Dr Ching Ling Chiang, the former HoD, are grave, as she allegedly refused to assist the deceased medico and repeatedly ignored her complaints of ragging and harassment by three senior postgraduate students. Instead of reporting the abuse to the college management, Dr Chiang dismissed Tadvi’s concerns and advised her to endure the mistreatment. Her failure to take action is believed to have enabled the harassment that ultimately led to Tadvi’s suicide in May 2019.

Also read- PG Medico Suicide Case: Prosecution plea seeks to add former HoD Gynaecology as Accused

This latest development follows a recent plea by the prosecution in the Dr Payal Tadvi suicide case to include Dr Ching Ling Chiang as an accused. After reviewing the evidence and arguments, the special court, constituted under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, gave a nod to the prosecution’s request to frame charges against Dr Chiang.

The court’s decision to add Dr Chiang as an accused was based on Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which allows courts to prosecute additional individuals if evidence suggests their involvement in a crime. Now, the court will proceed with the trial involving all the accused- the three seniors and Dr Chiang in the case.

Besides the court order, the anti-ragging committee of the medical college has recommended administrative action against Dr Chiang by supporting the prosecution plea. 

Medical Dialogues had extensively reported about the unfortunate case, wherein the 26-year-old PG medico Dr Payal Tadvi pursuing MD Gynecology from a well-known BYL Nair Hospital in Mumbai had allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself in her hostel room in May 2019. The doctor was allegedly under depression as three of her senior colleagues allegedly used to harass her with casteist remarks. 

A complaint was moved by the medico's family, and a case against the trio was registered under section 306 (abetment for suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), sections of the SC/ST Atrocities Act, Anti-Ragging Act and Information Technology Act, 2000. Later, the Bombay High Court granted bail to these three doctors and directed the trio to submit a surety of Rs 2 Lakh. In 2020, the Supreme Court allowed this trio to go back to the college and hospital to pursue their postgraduate medical studies.

Medical Dialogues recently reported that five years after Dr Payel Tadvi’s tragic suicide, the prosecution moved to frame charges against the former head of the Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics at Topiwala National Medical College & BYL Nair Charitable Hospital. In 2024, a special court in Mumbai decided to proceed with the trial against three women doctors accused of abetting the suicide of their junior colleague, Dr Payal Tadvi.

The court, on May 30, dismissed the discharge applications filed by the accused, who are currently out on bail and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on each of them for filing pleas that lacked merit. On November 13, special public prosecutor Pradip D. Gharat filed a plea before the court, arguing that Dr Ching should be called together with the other accused for framing charges. 

The prosecution’s plea highlighted several incidents that allegedly point to Dr Ching’s failure to intervene effectively. According to the plea, Tadvi's mother, Abeda Salim Tadvi, and her niece, Asha Tadvi, approached Dr Chiang multiple times, informing her about the ongoing harassment Tadvi faced at the hands of her seniors. However, Dr Chiang allegedly dismissed their concerns, claiming that such incidents were common and did not warrant any special attention.

Payal Tadvi then informed her mother that the department head had called her and the three seniors to discuss the incident. The prosecution claimed that Dr Chiang failed to intervene appropriately and exacerbated the situation by siding with the accused seniors. The prosecution submitted that Dr Ching’s action, therefore, had encouraged and provoked the seniors, which facilitated the offence instead of preventing it. According to the prosecution, Dr Ching's actions thus incited the seniors, which enabled rather than prevented the offence.

The charge sheet filed by the Mumbai Police presented strong evidence of the caste-based nature of the harassment Dr Tadvi faced. The documents included a suicide note in which Dr Tadvi had accused the three seniors of using casteist slurs against her. The charge sheet also includes testimony from witnesses who describe the verbal and physical bullying Dr Tadvi endured during her time at the college.

Witnesses corroborated these claims. The prosecution stated that five key witnesses in the case had confirmed the role of the accused in abetting Tadvi’s suicide. One of Dr. Tadvi's colleagues testified that during a meeting with Dr. Ching, the three accused students were only given a verbal warning. Furthermore, Tadvi’s mother and husband had requested Dr. Chiang to transfer Tadvi to a different college unit, but the department head refused.

Welcoming the court's move, Tadvi’s husband, Dr Salman Tadvi, told HT, “We repeatedly complained, but the HOD never acted. If she had intervened, this tragedy could have been avoided. Payal had also mentioned in her suicide note that she sought help from the HOD multiple times, but no action was taken. Just a week before the suicide, we had met Dr Chiang, who allegedly insisted that Payal must obey her seniors."

Also read- Court denies relief to 3 doctors accused of abetting suicide of Dr Payal Tadvi in 2019