New Delhi, Oct 26 : In a significant development in the Maharashtra's female doctor's rape and suicide case in Satara district, police arrested Sub-Inspector Gopal Badane after he surrendered at the Phaltan Police Station.

Badane, who had been absconding since his suspension, is accused of repeatedly raping a woman doctor and driving her to suicide. He will be produced before the court on Sunday.

Earlier on Saturday, police arrested another accused, Prashant Bankar, the son of the deceased doctor's landlord. Bankar has been charged with mentally harassing the doctor, whose name appeared alongside Badane's in her four-page suicide note and in a message written on her palm before her death.

According to officials, the deceased was a government medical officer posted at the Phaltan sub-district hospital in Satara. A native of Beed district, she was found hanging in a hotel room late Thursday night under mysterious circumstances.

Her suicide note accused Sub-Inspector Gopal Badane of raping her four times and Prashant Bankar of continuous mental harassment. She also mentioned that a Member of Parliament (MP) and his personal assistants had pressured her to falsify medical reports for accused individuals in criminal cases.

Police confirmed that both accused have been booked at the Phaltan Police Station under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. Satara Superintendent of Police Tushar Doshi stated that a detailed investigation is underway into the rape allegations, the harassment claims, and the possible involvement of political figures.

The deceased doctor's note revealed that she had been subjected to physical and mental torture for over five months. It also mentioned that she had lodged as many as 21 complaints with various authorities, but no effective action was taken. In one incident described in her note, the doctor claimed she was threatened by an MP over the phone for refusing to issue a false medical certificate.

Her cousin also made similar allegations about the doctor being made to falsify medical certificates.

/IANS