Payal Tadvi Suicide: Committee Finds Ragging, But No Casteism

The state-appointed committee has confirmed ragging but said it did not find evidence of caste discrimination.

A 23-year-old doctor belonging to a tribal community allegedly took her own life at the hostel of the government-run Nair hospital.

(Photo Courtesy: Payal Tadvi/Facebook)

There is evidence of ragging, but no evidence of caste-based discrimination – that is the finding of the state-appointed committee formed by the Maharashtra government to look into the circumstances of Mumbai medical student Payal Tadvi’s suicide, the The Indian Express reported.

WHAT THE REPORT SAYS

The 16-page report, according to The Indian Express, emphasises the immense workload and long working hours as reasons for the pressure on Tadvi.

Currently with the medical education department, the report recorded the statements of 32 people, including doctors, hostel inmates, Tadvi’s family and the three accused doctors who are under judicial custody.

It says that negligence from the head of Tadvi’s department led to a situation where Tadvi felt pushed to take her own life.

No action has been recommended against the department head and the three final-year students.

The report has also laid down a series of recommendations to prevent ragging, advising medical colleges to hold a meeting every three months to discuss issues around ragging. A strengthened counselling mechanism has also been suggested, the Indian Express report said.

WHO WAS PAYAL TADVI?

Paypal Tadvi was a second-year gynecology student at Tamil Nadu’s Topiwala National Medical College who committed suicide on 22 May. At around 7:30 pm, 27-year-old Tadvi was found hanging in her room that she shared with three other students.

Tadvi’s family have alleged that three of her seniors at the BYL Nair Hospital, to which the medical college is attached, taunted and hurled casteist slurs at her as she belonged to a Scheduled Tribe. Payal’s mother, Abeda Talvi, had told The Quint:

“She told me she was being tortured and harassed repeatedly. She said she was being harassed over her caste. They used to target her and rag her over her caste.”

(With inputs from The Indian Express, PTI)