SURAT RAGGING INVESTIGATION TIGHTENS AS TWO SENIOR DOCTORS ARE ARRESTED, TWO OTHERS REMAIN ON THE RUN
October 11, 2026
Police in Gujarat’s Surat have arrested two second-year postgraduate resident doctors in connection with the alleged ragging and harassment of first-year medical student Harsh Pandya, who died by suicide in August. Two other doctors named in the case remain absconding, while the investigation has brought renewed scrutiny to allegations of harassment within medical colleges.
The arrested doctors, Dikshita Ghewaria and Hina Bhut, were taken into custody on Sunday, Assistant Commissioner of Police Z. R. Desai said. The two other accused, Nirali Vasave and Anuj Maheshwari, have yet to be arrested. Police said the arrested doctors had allegedly been staying with relatives and friends while pursuing petitions seeking to quash the case.
Pandya was found hanging in his hostel room at Government Medical College, Surat, on August 9. Following his death, police registered a first information report against four second-year postgraduate students associated with the college and New Civil Hospital. The case was initiated after allegations that the first-year student had faced sustained harassment and ragging from senior residents.
According to the institute’s complaint, the four accused allegedly harassed 10 first-year residents in the microbiology department, despite rules prohibiting second-year residents from assigning tasks to junior doctors. The alleged harassment continued for three to four months after Pandya joined the institution in March or April.
The complaint alleged that the first-year residents were subjected to verbal abuse and humiliation, while senior students also lodged complaints with faculty members accusing them of failing to perform their duties. On August 5, the seniors allegedly summoned the first-year students to the department’s serology laboratory through WhatsApp messages. The students were allegedly confined there for two hours and subjected to mental harassment and humiliating remarks.
The institute’s anti-ragging committee examined statements from senior resident doctors, faculty members, technicians and cleaning staff after receiving complaints from nine first-year residents and Pandya’s father. The committee found that ragging had occurred, but its report did not establish physical abuse or conclusively link the alleged harassment to Pandya’s death.
The arrested doctors have been booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to wrongful confinement, intentional insult intended to provoke a breach of peace and acts committed with common intention. Relevant provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act have also been invoked.
The investigation has extended to the institution’s faculty. A high-level committee constituted to examine the case issued show-cause notices to microbiology department head Dr Sumaiya Mulla and faculty members Dr Sangeeta Rajde, Dr Yogita Mistry and Dr Latika Purohit.
The arrests mark a significant development in the case, but the circumstances surrounding Pandya’s death and the extent of responsibility of those named remain matters for investigation and legal proceedings. With two accused still at large, police continue to pursue the remaining suspects as concerns over ragging, intimidation and the treatment of junior doctors persist.
