Rajasthan Doctor Suicide: BJP Leader Arrested For Instigating Harassment

A local BJP leader in Rajasthan has been arrested for instigating a mob to harass a doctor after the death of a patient in a private hospital she owned. Archana Sharma, the doctor who was accused of murder, died by suicide on Wednesday leaving behind a heartbreaking suicide note where she asserted her innocence. Following the suicide, which has triggered outrage across the country, the Chief Minister suspended police officers in the area.

The woman patient, whose family had protested against Dr Sharma, had died on Tuesday due to a haemorrhage shortly after giving birth at a private hospital in Rajasthan's Dausa.

Later, her family held demonstrations outside the hospital and left only after the police filed a case of murder against Dr Sharma and her husband. The police said Dr Sharma was distraught by the demonstrations and the filing of the First Information Report naming her. She ran the hospital along with her husband.

Doctors have hit the streets demanding action against the state police, which filed a murder case against Archana Sharma on basis of complaints from the family of the patient who died.

In the handwritten suicide note, Dr Sharma had asked the authorities not to harass her husband and two young children after her death.

The patient, she wrote, died of postpartum haemorrhage despite all efforts to save her.  "Don't harass innocent doctors," was her big message, written in all-caps. Her death, she added, will prove her innocence.

Dr Sunil Upadhyay, the distraught husband of Dr Archana Sharma, told NDTV: "There should be action against the police. How did they file a case of Section 302 (murder) against her? There should be a law to stop harassing doctors and demanding money from them. My wife has died but what about other innocent doctors?"

Promising action in the case, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot tweeted: "The suicide incident of Dr Archana Sharma is deeply saddening. We consider doctors as gods. To save the life of patients, every doctor tries their best, but in case of any mishappening, it is not justified to blame the doctors."

The Chief Minister has assured that a thorough investigation is being conducted into the incident and appropriate action will be taken after the inquiry.