Doctors posted in Nagpur, Pune and Chattrapati Sambhajinagar staged a strike on Sunday, November 2, 2025, demanding a quick probe in the alleged suicide case of a female doctor posted at a sub-district hospital in Phaltan. The body of the 28 year old was recovered from a hotel room on October 22, with a note on her hand, revealing the names of one police official and two others alleging harassment.
However, due to unmet demands, the Maharashtra Association of Resident doctors (MARD), gave a state level call, announcing the continuation of strike on November 3 and 4. Dr. Ravi Sapkal, Vice President of BMC MARD said ““We will not stop until justice is served. If the government fails to act, all remaining medical services will also be suspended,”
The two day strike will hamper the non-emergency medical services throughout the state, emergency and ICU services will continue to operate.
The protest action was initiated on October 29, with black ribbons worn on duty by the doctors. On October 30, the doctors signified their intensified agitation, by wearing black tape on their mouth. Followed by this, the MARD rolled out a statewide social media campaign with hashtags #JusticeForDoctors and #JusticeForPhaltanMO, which led to candle marches at Gateway of India and CMST on Sunday.
The incident has triggered anger across Maharashtra’s medical fraternity as the medical officer filed several complaints of harassment against multiple police officers, but was met with counter-allegations by the police. The note found on the dead body of the female doctor accused Phaltan city PSI officer, Gopal Badane of rape. Another individual, named Prashant Banker, the son of the doctor’s landlord was also accused in the note for physical and mental harassment.
Even though, the investigation is on the go by the senior IPS officer Tejaswi Satpute appointed by the state home department, the MARD, general secretary said this was just tokenism, stating that “The investigation officer is still from the same police station, and the SIL plays only an observational role.”
The MARD association has made it clear that, with continued dissatisfaction, the strike could escalate to larger protests at the Azad Maidan. The Indian Medication Association warned the authorities to join the protests if the demands for speedy probe is not met. The IMA president announced that on Friday, services at private clinics would shut down and if the situation does not improve, all the healthcare services statewide would be hampered for one day.
