Police have arrested sub-inspector Gopal Badane in connection with the death of a government woman doctor in Maharashtra’s Satara district, officials said.
Badane surrendered at the Phaltan Rural Police Station in Satara on Saturday (October 25, 2025) evening, after which he was arrested, District Superintendent of Police Tushar Doshi said.
Earlier, on Saturday (October 25, 2025) morning, a team of Faltan police arrested software engineer Prashant Bankar, named by the doctor along with Badan in the note, from Pune.
Accused of psychologically harassing the victim and facing charges of suicide, the banker was produced before the Satara District Court on Saturday (October 25, 2025), which sent him to police custody for four days.
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A doctor hailing from Beed district of Marathwada region in central Maharashtra and posted at a government hospital in Satara district was found dead on Thursday (October 23, 2025) night.
In a note written on her palm, she alleged that police sub-inspector Badane had raped her on numerous occasions while software engineer Bankar had psychologically harassed her.
A case of rape and inducing suicide was registered against the couple in Phaltan in Satara district.
According to the police, the banker is the son of the landlord of the house where the doctor stayed.
She allegedly called him on the phone and chatted with him before her death, they said.
Sub-Inspector Badane was suspended from duty after his name surfaced during the investigation of the case.
Meanwhile, the doctor was cremated at her native place in Beed’s Wadwani tehsil on Friday (October 24, 2025) night.
Her relatives are demanding the death penalty for the defendants in the case.
She had complained of harassment several times but her complaints were not addressed, her relative claimed while talking to a news channel.
Another relative alleged that the victim was pressured to change medical reports at the district hospital where she worked.
“Phaltan politicians often asked her to change the medical reports as she used to undergo post-mortem regularly. She complained several times to the PSI (said in the note) but her complaints were not investigated,” the relative said.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve accused former BJP MP Ranjitsingh Naik Nimbalkar of pressuring a doctor on one occasion in the past. Nimbalkar, however, denied the allegation saying it was not true and his name was being dragged into the case deliberately.
BJP MLA Suresh Dhas demanded that the woman MP who allegedly tried to pressure the doctor be charged in the case. However, he did not name any leader.
According to a purported reply the doctor sent to authorities in Satara district earlier this year after a subordinate police official complained about her, she faced threats from police officials because of the way she worked, as well as taunts because of crime in Beed, her home district.
The woman’s two cousins, also doctors, alleged that hospital management assigned her post-mortem duties only to harass her.
According to the victim’s family, she wanted to study MD (Doctor of Medicine) and was preparing for it.
Her uncle told PTI that the ₹3,000 loan she had taken for her MBBS course was yet to be repaid.
“Her father is a farmer, not an educated person. I am a teacher and I took her to Beed school….she didn’t want to do MBBS but wanted to pursue MD in medicine, ENT or non-clinical fields,” he said.
(Those in need can call the helplines: Connecting NGO, 1800 843 4353 (Toll Free)/9922001122, Daily: 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM, Pune)
(Those who are in distress or have suicidal thoughts are encouraged to seek help and advice from the helpline number here)
Published – 26 Oct 2025 11:32 IST
