Surat: A 30-year-old postgraduate doctor, Harsh Pandya, allegedly died by suicide in the hostel of a government medical college in the Indian city of Surat.
According to Indian media reports, four senior doctors have been suspended for six months over allegations of harassment and ragging following Pandya’s death.
Harsh Pandya had been serving as a resident doctor in the Microbiology Department at New Civil Hospital for the past six months. He was also pursuing his postgraduate medical education and had recently become engaged.
Harsh’s father, Dr Subhash Pandya, said one of his son’s friends called him on Sunday morning and asked him to come to Surat immediately.
“My son had no problems with his studies. However, there were occasional disagreements between senior and junior doctors in the department regarding work,” he said.
As a first-year postgraduate student, Harsh was scheduled to perform emergency duty at New Civil Hospital. When he failed to report for duty, a senior doctor attempted to contact him, but his phone was switched off.
A junior doctor living in the hostel was then asked to check on Harsh in his room.
When the colleague arrived, the room was locked from the inside. Despite repeatedly calling out and attempting to open the door, he received no response.
With the assistance of security personnel, the door was forced open, and Harsh Pandya was found hanging from a ceiling fan.
A police investigation reportedly found that four senior resident doctors had been continuously harassing Harsh. All four doctors have consequently been suspended for six months from the hospital, hostel and all academic activities while the case remains under investigation.
