Payal Tadvi case: Forensic report rules out murder
The police said that the report was based on the samples that were collected from Tadvi's room.
Mumbai: The Mumbai crime branch has received a crucial report from the state Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL), which ruled out the murder of doctor Payal Tadvi, a medical student who was attached with the BYL Nair Hospital.
There were allegations that Tadvi, who was found hanged in her hostel room on May 22, could have been murdered. The police said that the report was based on the samples that were collected from Tadvi’s room.
Another report that will shed light on the data retrieved from Tadvi’s phone is also awaited, from the cyber unit of the FSL at Kalina, officials said.
The FSL has retrieved data on Tadvi’s activities on social media and online messengers from her phone. The retrieval process is, however, yet to be completed, and the report will be out in the next few days, officials said.
“Various samples were examined, including the scarf that the deceased had around her neck. Also, we did not find any other fingerprints at the spot, which could hint at the presence of anybody else in the room,” said an officer of Mumbai police.
Samples of DNA inside her fingernails and her clothes and mobile phone analysis were also part of the FSL analysis.
The report will be evidence in the case, which is being investigated. The analysis of Tadvi’s suicide note had also ruled out murder earlier.
The suicide note, a crucial piece of evidence, purportedly mentioned that three senior women doctors used to hurl casteist abuses and intimidate her.
The police, in May, arrested three of Tadvi’s colleagues — Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Meher and Ankita Khandelwal — who were found to have made casteist remarks against her, allegedly driving her to take the extreme step.
Notably, after Tadvi's autopsy report stated "evidence of ligature mark over the neck, the counsel for her family, Nitin Satpute, alleged that she was killed.
The trio was booked for abetting Tadvi’s suicide and was questioned in the case. They were granted bail by the Bombay high court last month on a cash surety of Rs 2 lakh each.