28-yr-old doc found dead at KEM; cops suspect suicide

A 28-year-old senior resident doctor from the general surgery department of King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital and Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College (GSMC),

A 28-year-old senior resident doctor from the general surgery department of King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital and Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College (GSMC), Parel, was found dead on the terrace of a hostel on the hospital premises on Saturday morning. The police suspect it to be a case of suicide.

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Police found a syringe next to the doctor’s body and the contents of the syringe have been sent to a forensic laboratory for tests. An autopsy was conducted around 10.30pm, but officials noted the cause of death as “pending”. The doctors have preserved the samples from the body for chemical analysis and histopathology.

“According to the preliminary investigation, we believe that the doctor has committed suicide by injecting himself with some chemical. We have filed a case of accidental death and are probing further,” said Mumbai Police spokesperson Pranay Ashok.

The hospital said that the doctor was missing since Friday night. “We filed a missing complaint, following which the police conducted a probe and found his phone location within the campus. On conducting a search at the resident medical officers’ (RMO) hostel, the police recovered his body from the hostel terrace on Saturday around 11am,” the hospital’s dean, Dr Hemant Deshmukh, said.

“An intravenous syringe (IV) was found near the body. It is believed that he injected some chemical into the body, but we are not certain about the chemical’s properties. We are cooperating with the police in the investigation,” Deshmukh added.

The doctor’s friends told HT that he had been undergoing counselling for mental health issues for the past six months. The police has not hinted at any foul play in the case.

“Statements from his friends and colleagues have not suggested harassment to be a reason behind the death,” said Vinod Kamble, senior inspector, Bhoiwada police station.

The doctor was working at GSMC after his post-graduation in general surgery from the same institute. On Friday, his friends alerted the hospital authorities after they could not get in touch with him. “His phone was switched off after 7pm [on Friday]. So we informed the dean,” one of his friends told HT.

A hospital guard, who went to recover the doctor’s body from the terrace, told HT that apart from the syringe, his backpack was also found from the spot, but no suicide note has been recovered from his belongings.

After getting to know about the 28-year-old’s death, doctors from Dr RN Cooper Municipal General Hospital and BYL Nair Hospital rushed to KEM Hospital.

One of the doctor’s patients said, “He was a polite and a sincere doctor, and used to treat his patients well.”

After the death came to light, former Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) president and psychiatrist, Dr Sagar Mundada, has called for psychological autopsy to confirm the reason behind the death. “Mental health issues are so common among resident doctors that there is a need to help each one of them to deal with stress and manage emotional crisis,” he said.

Meanwhile, MARD will hold a meeting with the Directorate of Medical Education and Research, demanding the body make counselling mandatory for all medical students. “We have been raising the issue of mandatory counselling for the past few years,” said Dr Deepak Munda, president, MARD, KEM Hospital.

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