Mumbai court grants anticipatory bail to faculty in MDS student suicide case

Mumbai: Almost two months after a 24-year-old MDS student died by suicide at her residence, a special court under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act granted anticipatory bail to a 60-year-old faculty of a public hospital in Mumbai, who was accused of harassment.

The order was passed after the court observed that there was no evidence suggesting he had tortured the victim based on her caste or compelled her to take her own life.

The postgraduate student was found hanging at her home in Mumbai's Antop Hill area on March 9 this year. Her friend, an insurance agent, was arrested in Lower Parel in central Mumbai.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the Antop Hill police registered a case of abetment to suicide against the friend, 34 years old, after the student left behind a 6-page suicide note. In the note, she accused the man of mentally harassing her and humiliating her over their relationship.

Also read- Mumbai: 24 year old MDS student allegedly commits suicide over humiliation, mental harassment, man booked for abetment

While the initial investigation focused on him, the police later sought to implicate the doctor, who was her teacher, based on WhatsApp messages.

During the hearing, advocates Suddep Pasbola and Amit Ghag, appearing for the professor, argued that there was no material in the investigation to indicate that the victim was abused based on her caste, reports PTI. 

In his anticipatory bail plea, the professor stated that he had merely been her teacher and had fully cooperated with the investigation, attending the police station for five days last month. He further claimed that letters and WhatsApp conversations found by the police indicated a "fatherly" relationship between him and the deceased student.

Opposing the plea, the police argued that custodial interrogation was necessary for further investigation. The police referred to the chat between the victim and another doctor and said how "it is clearly not a teacher-student relationship."

However, special judge G G Bhansali, in an order passed on Thursday, noted that, on perusal of the report, various allegations have been levelled against the accused friend. Still, in the suicide note running into five to six pages, nothing is mentioned about the professor.

"There is material on record that the applicant/accused (the faculty member) deposited her fees of Rs 2 lakh. This fact was not concealed from her parents. The deceased was well-educated, completed her BDS and was pursuing her post-graduation; she could not be called a weak personality. Any abnormal behaviour of an applicant being professor of a dental college, it could have been noticed by any friend or classmates during their education of 5-6 years," the judge observed, reports The Indian Express. 

The court also said that there is no allegation or any incidents quoted from her education period and her work, about being subjected to caste-based humiliation made against the professor.

The order highlighted several factors indicating a positive relationship between the professor and his student.

The court acknowledged that in a letter written in her final moments, Dr *** asked for "sorry" from her parents, her sister, and Dr ***, placing him on an equal status with her family.

A message sent by the victim’s father to the faculty, praising him and another message by the victim to him on his birthday, where she called him a guide and a mentor, was also shown to the court, said the professor's counsel. 

On this, the court noted that the birthday letter from the victim to the doctor described him as "more than a guide" and a "God" who "transformed" her life and the fact that he had previously deposited Rs 2 lakh for the victim's fees, a fact known to her parents.

The victim's father had previously sent a message to the professor expressing "immense pride" in handing over his daughter for her further education, the order said.

There was nothing to suggest that the act or behaviour of the applicant compelled the student to commit suicide, the court held, while allowing the professor's anticipatory bail.

Also read- B.Pharm Graduate Allegedly Dies by Suicide After Consuming Poison