Payal Tadvi

The police officers investigating Dr Payal Tadvi's suicide recovered on Monday, July 1, the pictures of a three-page handwritten suicide note from her mobile phone. 

The photographs were recovered from Payal's phone by the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory, who informed the Crime Branch. Forensic experts alleged that Payal had clicked pictures of the note on her cell phone with the intention to send it to someone.

Payal, who was a post-graduate student of BYL Nair Medical College and Hospital, committed suicide on May 22. The suicide note blames her seniors - Dr Bhakti Mehare (26), Dr Hema Ahuja (28) and Dr Ankita Khandelwal (27) - of severe ragging and abetting suicide. 

The 26-year-old doctor was reportedly ragged and humiliated by the trio over her caste - Tadvi Bhil tribe. 

The accused were arrested between May 28-29, and are in judicial custody since then. The suicide note has raised several questions about the removal of the original copy from Payal's room after she committed suicide.

Minutes before she took the extreme step, she had talked to her mother on the phone about the harassment and humiliation she was facing by the seniors at the hospital. The police had also found that the last call to her phone was from Ahuja for over 2 minutes.

The special public prosecutor had earlier submitted the surveillance footage of the college hostel after Payal's suicide. The footage shows that Ahuja and Khandelwal went to Payal's room and remained there for nearly 5 minutes. It is alleged that they tried to destroy the evidence linking them to suicide.

After receiving the suicide note copy, the police have submitted a sealed and detailed investigation report to the Bombay High Court, which will hear the trio's bail plea on July 16. The court has asked the officials to verify the suicide note with the help of handwriting experts.

The police are likely to invoke additional charges of Indian Penal Code (IPC) 201 against the accused for the destruction of evidence in the case.