Understanding the death of Payal Tadvi and corresponding issues.

THE SAD DEATH OF PAYAL TADVI

And so these men of Indostan

Disputed loud and long,

Each in his own opinion

Exceeding stiff and strong,

Though each was partly in the right

And all were in the wrong! 

                               -        John Godfrey Saxe

Payal Tadvi died on 22^nd May 2019. She was a resident gynaecologist at the Nair Hospital. It was reported that she committed suicide. Initial news reports suggest that she was harassed for availing reservation as a Scheduled Tribes [ST] candidate. First Information Report [FIR] was registered by the police. Three senior doctors in her unit were accused of ragging and harassing the deceased as well as abetting her suicide. In due course, they were arrested and sent to police custody.

For a Marathi version of this article here.

At first glance, Payal was just another casualty of the punishing apprenticeship that resident doctors must face- endless working hours, too much to study in too short a period, routine duties in the hospital apart from lectures to be attended; typical hierarchy in medical colleges where people barely 3-4 years senior to you are in charge, and above all the loneliness or feeling of isolation that this brutal training for specialization in a surgical branch entails.

But there were nuances to Payal’s death. She was a tribal, a Muslim and an educated lady from a community where literacy is rare. The social media erupted into frenzied discussions. Within a day of her death, Payal Tadvi became a trending topic on social media. Payal Tadvi, an unknown lady became a cause for many agenda.  

The very private tragedy of her suicide became a breaking news story because of its nuances. It set 

many tongues wagging. Overzealous reporters, ever eager for sensational news, hunted for drama and the tone was set. The unbearable burden of being a resident doctor and the sheer determination required to complete it is a big factor in a MBBS becoming a specialist. This was conveniently ignored by the press. It just wanted a sensational story. The experience of doctors having undergone worse situations in their own education was ignored. The vulnerability of a majority of junior resident doctors to be prone to suicidal thoughts was ignored. The issue of a married lady fighting her own demons as well as the system was turned into a conflict with three hapless seniors who happened to be of open category.

The assortment of public figures that jumped in to voice their opinion was of various intellectual hues and political colours. From the Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar to Sujaat, the son of Prakash Ambedkar; from Kanhaiya Kumar, the newly defeated candidate in the elections to Akhilesh Yadav, all found something or the other to paint the issue with broad brushes of divisive ideas.

Payal’s caste is of course the biggest factor in the picture. However, identity politics would not have mattered had the issue remained restricted to the harassment allegedly meted out to Payal by her seniors. But on 26^th May, Payal’s mother added to her allegations. She said that Payal was made to sleep on the floor by her seniors. She also alleged that the Payal was discriminated against because of her caste. These charges polarized the issue. It was now not a case of seniors versus a junior resident. It became a case of harassment of a Dalit by so called upper caste people. The charge of atrocities attracted because of these afterthought allegations catapulted the matter beyond a relatively routine case of suicide to a debate between the reserved and open categories. Some media portrayed it as a battle between Savarna and Dalits

Yet, the issue of why Payal committed suicide remains unanswered. Statements by Payal’s brother, her mother and her husband have made rounds of the press and news channels. Statements of various persons unconnected to the death have also been made public. This is a lapse on the part of the investigating machinery. If these statements have been given by the witnesses themselves to the reporters, they should have been more circumspect before publishing them. The point which nobody has talked about is the absence of any incriminating statement by the deceased. But that is part of another piece.

The reporting around Payal’s death has become a perfect illustration of the parable of the blind men and the elephant. Whatever could go wrong has gone wrong with the reporting of story. The death was so tragically politicized. There are various versions of the story. Doctors view the suicide simply as a result of the stress of residency in gynaecology. Experienced medical officers say that the surgeries and procedures that a gynaecologist has to perform as a matter of daily routine are very taxing. All doctors agree that more doctors and better infrastructure is needed in Indian conditions.

Some doctors have written posts on social media expressing their differing opinions. To some, Payal may have been a victim of depression which went untreated because it was not diagnosed. To others, she was overwhelmed by the rigourous duties associated with her job. It was argued that she was not able to handle the stress. That she had been admitted to MBBS because of reservation quota. 

Post graduate seat in gynaecology is a dream for many a doctor. Many may have been better equipped than Payal to handle the stress and the rigours of the course. They may have studied much harder than Payal did to get her seat, both for MBBS and then for PG course. It may be true that Payal died because reservation is a bad policy. Even otherwise, rethinking of reservation is required on many fronts. It is argued by many that reservation has bad effects. People not equipped to undergo the rigorous training bag a post graduate seat. It might be Payal that was inadequate, academically and temperamentally, to complete her specialization. It may also be equally true that Payal Tadvi committed suicide because of her personal issues. There have been reports that she was divorced from her husband.   

But all that is besides the point. The point is that a life is lost. If it was suicide, the conditions which led to it should be thoroughly investigated. It can become a case study in how best to prevent further loss of talented life. If the suicide was a result of harassment and/or ragging, adequate punishment should be meted out to the accused. But ragging, in common understanding is the physical or mental harassment of a student by another. It is common sense that a person who had endured undergraduate medical education and attendant troubles would not fall prey to suicidal thoughts at post graduate level.

However, no doctor is ready to accept the version of the story in which Payal is a victim of casteist harassment. They have alternative theories about the case. Some say it is suspicious that Payal had divorced her husband and yet there is no investigation from that agle. Some say that because Payal was admitted by reservation to MBBS she did not study hard enough to be a good resident. Some, more outspoken, say that Payal had become used to spending time away from duty. According to them, this made her irresponsible, leading to her neglecting duties.  

It is indeed a tough job to become a doctor, much less a specialist. Anybody who has a doctor as a friend or a relative knows the harsh conditions in which they receive their education. Life is harsh during that time. Death is harsher, particularly if it becomes a national issue, and sadly, politicized for no fault of the deceased.

Accurate and unbiased reporting about her death would be a tribute to Payal Tadvi, who in her death has become a symbol of how even deaths are politicized.

©Shrirang Choudhary

This post is part of a proposed series on the issue.

Please read the next post. Payal Tadvi: A metaphor for things gone wrong

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