AIIMS doctor kills self, dowry angle suspected

An AIIMS doctor allegedly committed suicide by injecting herself with some poisonous substance at her flat in IP Extension in East Delhi, the police said on Friday.

Dr Ritu Bangoti (30) allegedly took the extreme step at her flat in Kurmanchal Apartment of IP Extension on Thursday evening, the police said. The deceased reportedly had a strained relationship with her husband. Neighbours told police that the couple had frequent fights over domestic issues. Her father alleged that she was physically harassed and mentally tortured by her husband, Brijesh Bangoti, a pilot with Air India. A day after Dr Bangoti committed suicide, the Delhi police arrested Mr Bangoti under relevant sections of the IPC at the Madhu Vihar police station, sources said.

The incident came to fore at around 1:30 pm on Thursday when Mr Bangoti called his wife’s brother at their Kurmanchal Apartment flat alleging that she had locked herself in her room. “Within an hour, I reached their house and found that Ritu had locked herself in her room. There was a maid in their house cooking food but my brother-in law insisted that we wait for her to leave the house and then forcefully open the door. Minutes passed, we pleaded Ritu to open the door but she did not. I became suspicious and somehow managed to open the door and found that my sister was lying unconscious on the floor with a syringe in her hand,” said Vinod, Dr Bangoti’s brother.

He further said that he saw bits and pieces of the suicide note written by his sister. He said, “The moment I saw my sister, I rushed her to Max Patparganj Hospital. Although I saw the 2-page suicide note, I had no time to read it. By the time my father and I went back to Brijesh’s house, we found that it was shredded to pieces.” Alleging that there were injury marks on her neck, Dr Bangoti’s family members said that she was physically abused by her in-laws for dowry. Meanwhile, a police official said, “We got a call from Max Hospital. In the preliminary investigation, we did not find any injury marks on her body. Rest we are waiting for the post-mortem reports.”

Police said that they have started probe under Section 174 of the CrPC (inquest proceedings) at the Madhu Vihar police station. Dr Bangoti had married three years back and had a two-year-old daughter.