Mumbai: The Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) at KEM Hospital on Thursday said the online campaign against final year MBBS student Dr Sejal Pawar – who has been booked in connection with remarks made during a live show hosted by comedian Pranit More – had crossed into “targeted harassment” and “person vilification”.Criticism must not turn into harassment: KEM doctors’ body backs student booked for cadaver remarksThe show in question was recorded around three months ago, and video clips circulating online show Dr Pawar, a final-year MBBS student at Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital, recounting conversations from anatomy training and talking about male cadavers. The comments were deemed insensitive and disrespectful towards body donors, and an online campaign targeting Dr Pawar gained traction after another video from the same show began circulating widely.The second video featured an audience member, Himanshu Jangra, claiming that spending on a date entitled men to physical intimacy. The comments allegedly glorified and applauded non-consensual conduct towards a woman and sexual coercion.The Maharashtra cyber police have booked Dr Pawar, Jangra and comedian Pranit More over the remarks. Dr Pawar has also tendered an unconditional apology.Speaking to HT, Dr Amar Agame, chief advisor to KEM MARD, said the organisation decided to intervene in the matter after online discourse began linking Dr Pawar’s caste identity to the controversy.“Equating caste with the incident is itself discriminatory and unacceptable,” he said.In the statement released on Thursday, the KEM MARD said the remarks by the student were inappropriate, did not reflect the values expected of medical professionals, and had understandably caused hurt and concern. While criticism of the remarks was legitimate, the subsequent online campaign had crossed into “targeted harassment” and “person vilification”, the doctors’ body said.“MARD upholds the highest standards of professionalism, ethical conduct and respect for body donors, whose selfless contribution is invaluable to medical education,” the statement said.Public discourse should remain fair, responsible and focused on the incident itself rather than extending into unrelated issues like the resident doctor’s caste identity.Repeated attempts to contact Dr Pawar did not yield any response.