Payal Tadvi suicide case: NCST asks Mumbai police officials to expedite probe

New Delhi: A National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) team has met top Mumbai Police officials and the management of the BYL Nair Hospital regarding the Payal Tadvi suicide case and demanded that the probe into the matter be expedited.

The team, led by NCST chairman Nand Kumar Sai, also met Tadvi's family Saturday. "The NCST has demanded that the probe by the Crime Branch into the case be completed as soon as possible... Even the post-mortem report has not been released yet," Sai told PTI on Sunday. "It's not clear yet whether it's suicide or murder. The matter is under investigation. Let the post-mortem report come out," he added.

Tadvi, 26, a second-year gynaecology student of TN Topiwala National Medical College, allegedly committed suicide in her hostel room on May 22. Her family 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.

The accused have been booked under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Anti-Ragging Act, IT Act and Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code. Tadvi had secured admission in a state-run medical college and hospital in Mumbai last year in a reserved category seat.