First-Year Resident Doctor Found Dead at Mumbai’s Sion Hospital, Probe Underway

A first-year postgraduate resident doctor was found dead in the hostel of Mumbai’s Sion Hospital, prompting a police investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident, officials said on Sunday.

The deceased has been identified as Shivsharan Patil, a first-year postgraduate student in the Department of Surgery at the hospital.

According to preliminary information, Patil’s body was found in the bathroom of his hostel room on Saturday night. The hospital administration and police were subsequently informed.

Police suspect that the doctor may have died by suicide after an alleged overdose of anaesthesia. The circumstances of his death are being investigated, and further details are awaited.

The incident comes amid concerns over the mental well-being and treatment of junior doctors following a similar case reported in August at New Civil Hospital in Surat, Gujarat.

In that case, a first-year resident doctor allegedly died by suicide. A state-appointed inquiry subsequently found evidence of alleged ragging and mental harassment, prompting the suspension of four senior doctors, Gujarat Health Minister Praful Pansheriya had said.

According to the preliminary findings of the hospital’s Anti-Ragging Committee, the four senior doctors were held directly responsible for allegedly causing mental harassment and were suspended with immediate effect.

The Head of Department concerned, along with members of the teaching staff at New Civil Hospital, was also served show-cause notices over alleged lapses in ensuring the safety and proper management of junior doctors.

Pansheriya said no suicide note had been found in the Surat case. However, statements recorded from fellow students indicated that the deceased doctor had allegedly faced repeated mental harassment and mistreatment by senior doctors.

The minister said the findings had prompted the Gujarat government to take strict action against those found responsible.

“Harassing junior doctors is not our culture,” Pansheriya said, warning senior doctors against ragging and mental harassment.

The investigation into the death at Mumbai’s Sion Hospital is ongoing. No link between the two incidents has been established.