Kolkata: Doctor sets self ablaze after posting on Facebook wall, dies after two weeks – Times of India

KOLKATA: A 40-year-old doctor, Abantika Bhattacharya, who had set herself on fire at her Behala home on August 16 half-anhour after she posted on Facebook, questioning her transfer after eight years from one “peripheral” service to another, succumbed to her injuries on Sunday night.
Her last post on Facebook on August 16 reads “Where peace lies for me ….. job resignation? After eight years of peripheral service … again dragged to another peripheral service…in the same job capacity-…can’t take it any more.” She was first rushed to a local nursing home, from where she was later shifted to SSKM Hospital with 70% burn injuries.
Bhattacharya was posted at Midnapore Medical College as an assistant professor. She was transferred to Diamond Harbour Medical College recently. Her husband, a gynaecologist, practises in Murshidabad. The duo has an autistic daughter. Following her death various doctor organisations like Association of Health Service Doctors and Service Doctors Forum have cried foul and demanded fair and transparent transfer policy of health service doctors. “There is no doubt that we need a more transparent transfer policy. It is unbelievable that a doctor would commit suicide because of transfer from one medical college to another,” said a senior health department official. Officials argued that Diamond Harbour Medical College is close to her Behala residence. It would have made things easier for her. Sources said that the doctor had been suffering from depression for some time after the death of her parents. Her father died in 2017. Unable to bear this loss, her mother had killed herself two years ago. “The transfer to another peripheral hospital could be one of the factors but she was silently fighting depression for some time now,” said a doctor.
A graduate from Medical College and Hospital Kolkata, she was known for her organisational skills and would take part in various activities. During the pandemic she was part of various Covid campaigns.
Sources said that community medicine specialist had co-authored a number of research papers on stress and depression by doctors and other healthcare workers.
Psychologist Amit Chakraborty said she was researching a lot on depression and stress and published a number of research papers, which shows her concern for the issue and thus she was trying to find a way out. “As a specialist in community medicine, she tried to find out stress and depression in various communities. If the authority had been a bit careful and had given her a posting closer to her home, the death could have been avoided. The parents of special children often suffer from “why me syndrome” and this kind of suicide is not uncommon among them, who are unable to cope with the stress,” said Chakraborty.