PG student at Ahilyanagar medical college found dead: ‘Vinod would complain of overwhelming work pressure, having to give expensive gifts… we all have our saturation points’

Immediately after Dr Goud’s death, authorities had suspended the Head of the Paediatric Department at the college. The action was taken after several messages had circulated on social media platforms claiming that Dr Goud had been humiliated by the department head. A senior resident at the college on the condition of anonymity told The Indian Express that an official complaint had been submitted to the college dean.

“I have known Dr Goud since his very first year in college. A humble and kind person he paid his own fees and even took a part-loan as he did not want to burden his family with the medical college fees,” a senior resident doctor recalled. “After working 40 hours at a stretch and getting a break of just 6-8 hours, we have been pulled up, humiliated and even asked for expensive gifts. We have been told to cope with the pressure. Mistakes do happen. But at what cost? We all have our saturation points but, unfortunately, Dr Goud fell victim to the toxic culture in the paediatric department,” the doctor alleged.

Baswanth too remembers Dr Goud mentioning having had to give expensive gifts at the hospital. “Vinod was very hardworking. But he would complain frequently about the work pressure and even having to give expensive gifts like sarees and other items,” Baswanth alleged.

Both went to the Gorkey Public School in their hometown. Later, Dr Goud went to Georgia to pursue medical studies and on his return in 2018-19 worked at a private hospital in Hyderabad. “We would talk almost every day before he joined PIMS. We had gone together to Shirdi near Loni and he was so happy to have got admission to the PG course,” Baswanth recalled.

“Eventually the calls became fewer and after meeting him in July, the last time I spoke with my friend was on September 14. Vinod was very close to me. I simply cannot believe he is no more,” Baswanth, who drove all the way from Hyderabad with his friends to Loni, said. “Vinod’s mother is totally shattered,” he added as he along with Vinod’s father — a medical practitioner in a village — took the body back to Telangana for the final rites.

When contacted, Dr Vinky Rughwani, administrator at Maharashtra Medical Council, said they could take suo motu action in instances where a gross incident has occurred. “We will look into the matter and initiate an inquiry,” he said.

Meanwhile, an officer from Ahilyanagar police said, “The family of the deceased postgraduate student has approached us and has sought a thorough inquiry into the suspected suicide. In the application given to the local police station, the father has not specifically named anyone. We have asked the family whether the deceased had said anything to them or communicated in any other way if he was facing any issues in his professional or personal front. Nothing concrete has been brought to the fore yet.”

“Various allegations that are being made about the suspected suicide are all on social media platforms. We have launched an investigation into all the past communications of the deceased. Along with family, we will also be speaking to the friends and colleagues of the deceased,” he added.

(with inputs from Sushant Kulkarni)