Satara: A new twist has emerged in the suicide case of a 29-year-old woman doctor from Satara, after the family of accused Prashant Bankar claimed that the doctor had proposed marriage to him but he refused, saying he considered her “like an elder sister.”
According to Bankar’s family, the two had become close a few months ago when the doctor treated him for dengue. His sister told reporters that their friendship later deepened, and earlier this month the doctor allegedly sent him a marriage proposal over text. “He turned it down and told her he saw her as an elder sister,” she said. The family added that the doctor made “repeated and desperate calls” to him a day before her death. They have now submitted screenshots of those calls and messages to the police.
The doctor was found dead in a hotel room in Phaltan town on Thursday night with a suicide note written on her palm accusing police sub-inspector Gopal Badane of rape and Bankar of mental and physical harassment. Another four-page note also mentioned both men.
Bankar’s brother, Sushant Bankar, however, has denied all harassment allegations, claiming the doctor had celebrated Diwali with their family days before the incident. “She lived in our rented apartment for a year and was emotionally disturbed for weeks. We have photographs from Diwali that prove she was close to our family,” he said.
The family alleged that the doctor had threatened to end her life if Bankar did not agree to marry her. “My brother told us about it earlier. He never misbehaved with her,” Sushant said.
Police are now verifying the new claims and examining the digital evidence, including text messages and call logs between the two. Both accused — Bankar and sub-inspector Badane — remain in custody as investigators continue to probe the circumstances that led to the suicide. Police arrested Sub-Inspector Gopal Badane after he surrendered at the Phaltan Police Station on Sunday. Bankar was arrested earlier.
A senior police official said all angles are being investigated, including the alleged marriage proposal and the nature of the relationship between the doctor and Bankar.
The case, which has triggered statewide outrage and political reactions, took a fresh turn with the family’s version contradicting the doctor’s handwritten note. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde earlier promised strict action and a detailed police report, as public pressure mounts for justice in the case.
Rahul Gandhi reacts, calls the incident as an ‘insitutional murder’
The shocking case has sparked a reaction from Congress MP and the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi, in a post on the social media platform X, stated that the woman was driven to “despair by rape and harassment, is a tragedy that shakes the conscience of any civilised society.”
“A promising doctor daughter, who aspired to alleviate the pain of others, became a victim of the persecution by criminals entrenched in a corrupt system and power structure,” the Congress leader added.
The very authority tasked with protecting the public from criminals committed the most heinous crime against this innocent woman—rape and exploitation,” he added.
In his post, Rahul Gandhi also cited some “reports.” The LoP talked about the alleged involvement of a politician, “some influential individuals associated with the BJP also attempted to pressure her into corruption.”
“This is the most despicable example of a criminally protected ideology. This is not a suicide—it is an institutional murder,” he added in the post.