Doctor climbed Sion tower in suicide attempt after alleged political pressure. Days later, he was dead

On August 27, Dr Rajendra Rupnavar climbed an electrical tower near Sion railway station and told the police below that he was facing action at his workplace and had been removed from his job. As fire brigade personnel tried to persuade him to come down, the 28-year-old doctor, who had travelled from Satara to Mumbai two days earlier, allegedly attempted to hang himself outside one of Mumbai's busiest suburban train stations.

He was brought down alive and taken to Sion Hospital. Four days later, he died after suffering a cardiac arrest. The death of the young doctor from a farming family to the tower outside one of Mumbai’s busiest railway stations is now the subject of a police investigation and a demand from his family for an SIT probe.

His brother and colleagues allege that Rupnavar had been under pressure after refusing to issue a medical fitness certificate required for a firearm licence, and that his subsequent suspension and departmental inquiry pushed him further into distress.

The allegations have also brought scrutiny on the administration of the Sub-District Hospital in Phaltan, where Rupnavar worked as a contractual medical officer. According to his brother Sagar Rupnavakar, the trouble began on July 27, when a man identified by the family as Prasad Kondedeshmukh allegedly came to the Phaltan hospital with a bouncer and sought a medical fitness certificate required for obtaining a gun licence.

Rupnavar allegedly refused to issue the certificate, citing technical difficulties. “My brother refused to issue the fitness certificate as there were some technical difficulties. The person threatened him, saying that he was a former minister’s personal assistant and that he would see how my brother survived in the hospital,” Sagar alleged.

A verbal altercation followed, according to the family. Sagar alleged that Kondedeshmukh subsequently approached Rupnavar’s senior, Dr Leela Madane, and obtained the certificate. The next day, July 28, Rupnavar was suspended and a departmental inquiry was initiated against him, Sagar alleged.

For Rupnavar’s family, the timing of the action was significant. They say he believed he was being punished for refusing to issue the certificate. “He belonged to a family of farmers and had earned his degree through hard work.

He was depressed because he was suspended without any reason,” Sagar said. Rupnavar’s friends and colleagues say he did not want to simply walk away from the matter. Dr Amol Bansude, a medical intern at Pune’s Sassoon General Hospital and a friend of Rupnavar, said he had spoken to him about the pressure he was facing.

“I told him to forget this episode and move on,” Bansude said. Bansude said he had even asked his friend to leave the Phaltan job and come to Pune, where there were openings at Kamala Nehru Hospital.