‘Ill-tempered’ accused targeted Payal Tadvi despite being warned, say witnesses

One of Payal’s batchmates, also posted in the gynaecology department of Nair Hospital, told the Mumbai Police Crime Branch that in November 2018, he witnessed a senior warning the accused to lay off her.

“Do not harass your juniors so much. If they do something someday, you will be sorry” — this was the warning given by a senior doctor to the three accused in the Payal Tadvi murder case, according to the police chargesheet.

One of Payal’s batchmates, also posted in the gynaecology department of Nair Hospital, told the Mumbai Police Crime Branch that in November 2018, he witnessed a senior warning the accused to lay off her.

However, the accused allegedly ignored the warning and continued targeting Tadvi, intensifying their harassment after she approached the department head, Dr Ching Ling, asking for a transfer out of gynecology.

At least 30 doctors, nurses and cleaners at Nair Hospital described Dr Hema Ahuja as “abusive”, “arrogant”, “ill-tempered” and “aggressive” while dealing with patients, their relatives and the late Payal Tadvi, stated the chargesheet.

In its chargesheet, the crime branch put together accounts of employees in Ward 7 of the hospital’s gynaecology department, who assisted the accused doctors — Ahuja, Bhakti Mehre and Ankita Khandelwal — on a daily basis.

Several senior employees told the crime branch that they had advised the accused on many occasions not to mistreat patients, but that the accused ignored them. In their statements, several nurses claimed Ahuja would frequently swear at pregnant women admitted in the ward. Others claimed Ahuja would also hit patients when she was irritated and, at times, pull their hair.

The nurses described Mehare as being similar to Ahuja, shouting at patients and employees for the smallest reasons, but that Khandelwal was comparatively mellow. The employees also claimed they had complained about the doctors’ behaviour to seniors, but to no avail.

Each of the witnesses also contrasted the behaviour of the accused with that of Tadvi, who they described as being “friendly, polite and well-mannered”. Several nurses also claimed in their statements that Tadvi also seemed nervous as a result of being constantly harassed by the accused.

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