New Delhi: A gynaecologist in Rajasthan’s Dausa district died by suicide on Tuesday, March 29, after murder charges were registered against her for the death of a patient during delivery a day prior. Amidst allegations of these charges being framed under pressure from local political actors, chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday ordered the dismissal of several police personnel from the Lalsot police station, where the first information report (FIR) against the doctor was registered.Case backgroundDr Archana Sharma and her husband, Dr Suneet Upadhyay ran the Anand Hospital in Lalsot, Dausa. On Monday, 22-year-old Asha Bairwa died at the hospital due to post-delivery complications, shortly after giving birth.Asha’s husband, Laluram Bairwa and their relatives reportedly took the body back to their village thereafter, however, allegedly returning to the hospital with the body as well as a group of local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders who began protesting Bairwa’s death.As the crowd continued to protest, the police arrived at the scene and, assuring them of an investigation, registered a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 302 (murder) against the two doctors.In a video put out on Wednesday, Dr Upadhyay explained that Bairwa, who had suffered certain complications during previous births, was referred to the Anand Hospital for the delivery of her child.After a normal caesarean delivery, Bairwa suffered a “massive” postpartum haemorrhage(PPH) two hours later and, despite the doctors efforts, she succumbed.“Her family saw how much we tried to save her, shutting down the whole hospital and outpatient department, and acknowledged, with folded hands, that we tried to save her but that it’s just their misfortune,” Upadhyay said in the video. Upon the family’s request, an ambulance was dispatched, free of cost, to get the body back to the village to perform the last rites, Upadhyay notes in the video. However, he says that he got word thereafter that one Shivshankar Balya Joshi went to the family’s home and picked them up.Dr Archana Sharma’s bereaved husband Dr Suneet Upadhyay. Hear him, PM @narendramodi HM @mansukhmandviya And please let us doctors know what action you will take against Kirodi Lal Meena and his subordinate goons from your party who are responsible for her death. pic.twitter.com/02P9pTWvM4— Amit Thadhani (@amitsurg) March 30, 2022“Promising to get them compensation, Joshi got the family to bring Bairwa’s body back outside the hospital and gathered a crowd of 100-200 people, including local BJP leaders like Harkesh Matlana, Jitendra Gothwal and even Dr Kirodi Lal Meena.” In the video, Upadhyay alleges that Joshi has attempted to blackmail the doctors at Anand Hospital on previous occasions too and that the doctors have even tried to register FIRs against him, but the police refuse to register the cases.“The police are under the thumb of Dr Kirodi Lal Meena and refuse to register cases against Joshi… He has even attacked policemen, but Meena always protects him,” he says in the video.Meena is currently a Rajya Sabha MP and has served as a BJP MLA in the Rajasthan assembly in the past.When Upadhyay’s wife, Dr Sharma read the next day that the police, under pressure from Meena, registered a murder case against the couple, she got scared, thinking that they would be sent to jail.Here, Upadhyay also mentions one Mahesh Bihari, a journalist with the Rajasthan Patrika who he alleges is also a local criminal. He said that Bihari published a one-sided article in the newspaper which led to Sharma’s fears that they would go to jail.Upadhyay said that he tried to explain that the couple would not be sent to jail without due process, but notes that she could have been overcome by fear and did not heed his words.“Around 10-11 am, she committed suicide,” Upadhyay says in the video, calling for a change in the entire medical system and the arrests of local leaders who blackmail hospitals.Before her death by suicide on Tuesday, Sharma had left a note in which she repeatedly professed her innocence. “PPH is a known complication and so stop harassing doctors so much over it,” she wrote.“Perhaps my death might prove my innocence. Don’t harass innocent doctors. Please,” the letter concluded.Also read: India Needs an Urgent Law to Protect All Health Workers From ViolenceGovernment responseAccording to a report by the Indian Express, the police registered an FIR against Joshi and others under IPC Sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 384 (extortion) and 388 (extortion by threat of accusation of an offence punishable with death).Taking cognisance of the incident, chief minister Gehlot wrote on Twitter that doctors will be given “God status” going forward and that “not justified to accuse the doctor as soon as any unfortunate incident happens.”“We all should think that in the time of the COVID pandemic or other diseases, how can such treatment be done to the doctors who serve everyone by risking their lives? This entire matter is being investigated seriously and the guilty will not be spared,” he said, in a series of tweets.हम सभी को सोचना चाहिए है कि कोविड महामारी या अन्य दूसरी बीमारियों के समय अपनी जान का खतरा मोल लेकर सभी के सेवा करने वाले डॉक्टरों से ऐसा बर्ताव कैसे किया जा सकता है। इस पूरे मामले की गंभीरता से जांच की जा रही है एवं दोषियों को बख्शा नहीं जाएगा।— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) March 30, 2022Following a high-level meeting at his residence on Wednesday, Gehlot ordered the removal of Dausa superintendent of police (SP) Anil Kumar Lalsot Station House Officer (SHO) Anikesh Kumar and deputy SP, Lalsot Shankar Lal. He also called for an administrative inquiry into the matter, which will be led by Jaipur divisional commissioner Dinesh Kumar Yadav.Moreover, Gehlot constituted a committee to look into the “legal aspects” of the case in order to draft a guideline which will be implemented state-wide. This committee, to be led by the additional chief secretary (home), secretaries of medical and health department, medical education department, senior officers from police and law departments and doctors.Protests from doctors’ bodiesDoctors from the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Rajasthan, issued a notification on Wednesday calling for a 24-hour ‘medical bandh’ across the state, in wake of the “sad demise” of Dr Sharma, news agency ANI reported.Apart from emergency services, medical services in many private hospitals and even some government hospitals were reportedly suspended.Similarly, doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, protested against the “barbaric harassment” of Sharma by wearing black ribbons while working.Resident doctors at AIIMS Delhi hold protest wearing black ribbons against the harassment of Dr Archana by a patient’s attendants which led to her suicide at a private hospital in Dausa, Rajasthan. pic.twitter.com/VRq02QImad— ANI (@ANI) March 30, 2022The Federation of Resident Doctors (FORDA) has written to the Rajasthan government seeking an investigation into the incident as well as an immediate withdrawal of the FIR against the doctors and for compensation to be paid to Upadhyay. “It is pertinent to mention that PPH is a known complication following delivery in pregnant women, As per the guidelines of the Supreme Court, a doctor cannot be accused of medical negligence in such an incident, without proper investigation by an expert committee,” the FORDA letter reads.If you know someone – friend or family member – at risk of suicide, please reach out to them. The Suicide Prevention India Foundation maintains a list of telephone numbers they can call to speak in confidence. Icall, a counselling service run by TISS, has maintained a crowdsourced list of therapists across the country. You could also take them to the nearest hospital.(With PTI inputs)