Dr Payal Tadvi case: Testimonies put senior doctors' roles in spotlight

Nothing seems to fall in place in the Dr Payal Tadvi suicide case mdash from the date her unit head Dr Ching Ling was informed of the alleged harassment to the day Dr Ling told her superior Dr Sneha Shirodkar Both doctors have recorded statements that not just contradict each other but also those given by other senior doctorsDr Ling also told the police in her third statement that she had informed her superior Dr Shirodkar about the complaint on May 15 Dr Shirodkar however said in her first statement that she had received a verbal complaint on May 17 while her second statement says she had no idea of any harassment until Payals suicideDr Lings statement June 2On May 13 Dr Ching Ling Chung Changgyn then unit head of Gyanecology Department received a complaint about the issues faced by Dr Tadvi for the first time Payals mother and her husband had met Dr Ling to complainDr Lings statement July 15In December 2018 Dr Tadvi did not complain against Dr Hema Ahuja Dr Bhakti Mehare and Dr Ankita Khandelwal On May 13 her mother and husband met me at the Gynaecology OPD Payals husband told me that she was illtreated by the three doctors I asked him what sort of illtreatment he was referring to but he didnt explain But I didnt speak to Payal personally about this alleged illtreatmentOn May 14 at 1130 am I called Payal Hema Bhakti Ankita and other juniors in a room outside Gynaecology OPD I asked if they were facing any problem in the way the unit is functioning When no one said anything I asked if we should talk separately but I didnt ask Payal specifically if she wanted to talk separately or in front of everyone Dr Hema then began complaining about how Payal was not working properly and was committing several mistakes She also gave instances Later everyone said that they will cooperate with each other and in this regard and I didnt inquire nor raised any complaint to my superiors On May 15 I verbally informed my department head Dr Sneha Shirodkar about this meeting But at that time she was on leave and I never received any request from Payal or her family members to change her unit after thatDr Shirodkar June 11I was on leave from May 5 to May 23 The charge was with Dr Balaji Jadhav up to May 12 and from May 13 onwards my charge was with Dr Ching Ling On May 17 there was too much work in the OPD and many operations were lined up so I went to the hospital There Dr Ling met me and verbally told me Payals family meeting her and the meeting she held with the four resident doctors But as I was on leave that day so I didnt say anythingDr Shirodkar June 21I dont know whether or not Payal complained about her seniors to Dr Ling She didnt inform me about any such complaint I got to know about these complaints only after Payals suicidePayal complained in DecA 27yearold thirdyear resident doctor told the crime branch in her statement that in the last week of November Payal left the hospital without saying anything one day When called she didnt respond for two days When she finally received their calls she said she was in Nair hospital itself with her mother I called Payal and her mother to my room At that time another colleague of mine and I spoke to her We asked her why she had left the hospital and whether she was facing any problem the doctor saidShe told us that Hema Bhakti and Ankita insult her and yell at her in front of patients and that she couldnt tolerate it anymore We told her to complain to the unit head and senior doctors about this My colleague and I then met Dr Ling along with two more senior doctors We told all three senior doctors about the trouble Payal was facing Dr Ling said that she would speak to Payal once she was back After a couple of days I saw Payal meeting Dr Ling but I dont know what they spoke about the doctor addedAnother 27yearold thirdyear resident doctor echoed similar views in her statement too Her mother told us that Payal was contemplating quitting the course due to the harassment she faced We assured her that we will inform Dr Ling about this and find a solution Payal also said that people looked at her in a weird manner when the three doctors shouted at her in front of everyoneAlso readAccused doctors in Payal Tadvis case never behaved normally with their juniors say doctorsIn the first week of December 2018 one of the resident doctors told me that Payal was upset and not attending hospital for two days When Payal came back she met Dr Ling in my presence and complained about Hema Bhakti and Ankita Dr Ling called Hema and asked her to not to trouble Payal a senior lecturer told crime branch in her statementDr Ling and Dr Shirodkar did not respond despite repeated calls and messagesA senior crime branch officer told midday that supplementary statements are recorded under specific circumstances For instance if we record the statement of witness A at a specific point but while recording the statement of witness B we notice something contradictory or new then we call witness A again and record hisher supplementary statement based on the newly emerged points he explainedAlso readMumbai doctors suicide The last call before Dr Payal Tadvi killed herselfDec 2018Month Payals seniors claim she had complainedMay 2019Month Dr Ling claims she received complaintCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates