Junior doctors at Indian hospitals have continued to stay off work following the rape and killing of a colleague, where calls for justice have intensified.
The New Arab Staff & Agencies
18 August, 2024
Students of Patna Women's College making human chain during demonstration in protest against the sexual assault and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor, at Bailey road on August 17, 2024 in Patna, India. (Photo by Santosh Kumar/Hindustan Times)
Some Indian junior doctors remained off the job on Sunday, demanding swift justice for a colleague who was raped and murdered, despite the end of a 24-hour strike called by the country's biggest association of doctors.
Doctors across the country have held protests, candlelight marches and have refused to see non-emergency patients in the past week after the killing of the 31-year old postgraduate student of chest medicine around the early hours of August 9 in the eastern city of Kolkata.
Women activists say the incident at the British-era R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital has highlighted how women in India continue to suffer despite tougher laws following the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in Delhi in 2012.
"My daughter is gone but millions of sons and daughters are now with me," the father of the victim, who cannot be identified under Indian law, told reporters late on Saturday, referring to the protesting doctors. "This has given me a lot of strength and I feel we will gain something out of it."
India introduced sweeping changes to the criminal justice system, including tougher sentences, after the 2012 attack, but campaigners say little has changed and not enough has been done to deter violence against women.
The Indian Medical Association, whose strike ended at 6 a.m. (0030 GMT) on Sunday, told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that as 60% of India's doctors are women, he needed to intervene to ensure hospital staff were protected by security protocols akin to those at airports.
"All healthcare professionals deserve peaceful ambience, safety and security at workplace," it wrote in a letter to Modi.
But in Modi's home state of Gujarat, more than 6,000 trainee doctors in government hospitals continued to stay away from non-emergency medical services on Sunday for a third day although private institutes resumed regular operations.
"We have unanimously decided to continue our protest to press for our demands," said Dr. Dhaval Gameti, president of Junior Doctors' Association at B.J. Medical College in Ahmedabad.
"In the interest of patients, we are providing emergency medical services but not taking part in out-patient department or routine ward work."
'Could stop emergency services'
The government has urged doctors to return to duty to treat rising cases of dengue and malaria while it sets up a committee to suggest measures to improve protection for healthcare professionals.
Most doctors resumed their usual activities, IMA officials said, although Sunday is generally a holiday for non-emergency cases.
"The doctors are back to their routine," said Dr. Madan Mohan Paliwal, the IMA head in the most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. "The next course of action will be decided if the government does not take any strict steps to protect doctors... and this time we could stop emergency services too."
But the All India Residents and Junior Doctors’ Joint Action Forum said on Saturday it would continue a "nationwide cease-work" with a 72-hour deadline for authorities to conduct a thorough inquiry and make arrests.
Dr. Prabhas Ranjan Tripathy, additional medical superintendent of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the eastern city of Bhubaneswar, said junior doctors and interns had not resumed duty.
"The demonstrations are there today too," he told news agency Reuters. "There is a lot of pressure on others because manpower is reduced."
R.G. Kar hospital has been rocked by agitation and rallies for more than a week. Police banned the assembly of five or more people around the hospital for a week from Sunday and deployed police in riot gear.
Blocking meetings, demonstrations and processions was justified to prevent "breach of peace, disturbances of the public tranquillity", Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal said in an order.
Media outlets report that there were no doctors at their usual protest site around the gates of the hospital on Sunday, as it rained in the area.
In Pictures
Indian medics stage nationwide strike over doctor’s rape and murder
Doctors in India remained off the job on Sunday, calling for justice for a colleague who was raped and murdered.
Indian medics stage nationwide strike over doctor’s rape and murder
Doctors in India remained off the job on Sunday, calling for justice for a colleague who was raped and murdered.
Medical professionals light candles and hold posters in Jalandhar in the northern state of Punjab during a nationwide strike by doctors to condemn the rape and murder of a young medic from Kolkata. [Shammi Mehra/AFP]
AL JAZEERA
Published On 18 Aug 2024
Indian doctors observed a nationwide strike, escalating protests after the “barbaric” rape and murder of their colleague that has channelled outrage at the chronic issue of violence against women.
The discovery of the 31-year-old doctor’s bloodied body at a state-run hospital in Kolkata, the capital of the eastern state of West Bengal, on August 9 led to furious protests in several cities across the country.
Many of those protests have been led by doctors and other healthcare workers but also joined by tens of thousands of common Indians from all walks of life demanding action.
In Kolkata, thousands held a candlelight vigil. “Hands that heal shouldn’t bleed,” read one sign, held by a protester in the eastern city.
“Enough is enough,” read another at a rally by doctors in the capital, New Delhi.
“Hang the rapist,” another said.
The murdered doctor was found in the medical college’s seminar hall, suggesting she had gone there for a rest during a 36-hour shift.
An autopsy confirmed sexual assault and, in a petition to the court, the victim’s parents said they suspected their daughter was gang-raped.
One man, who worked at the hospital helping people navigate busy queues, has been detained.
However, the city police were accused by an angry public of mishandling the case and the Calcutta High Court transferred the investigation to India’s top investigating agency Central Bureau of Investigation to “inspire public confidence”.
Sexual violence against women is a widespread problem in India – an average of nearly 90 rapes a day were reported in 2022 in the country of 1.4 billion people.
Published On 18 Aug 2024
Indian doctors observed a nationwide strike, escalating protests after the “barbaric” rape and murder of their colleague that has channelled outrage at the chronic issue of violence against women.
The discovery of the 31-year-old doctor’s bloodied body at a state-run hospital in Kolkata, the capital of the eastern state of West Bengal, on August 9 led to furious protests in several cities across the country.
Many of those protests have been led by doctors and other healthcare workers but also joined by tens of thousands of common Indians from all walks of life demanding action.
In Kolkata, thousands held a candlelight vigil. “Hands that heal shouldn’t bleed,” read one sign, held by a protester in the eastern city.
“Enough is enough,” read another at a rally by doctors in the capital, New Delhi.
“Hang the rapist,” another said.
The murdered doctor was found in the medical college’s seminar hall, suggesting she had gone there for a rest during a 36-hour shift.
An autopsy confirmed sexual assault and, in a petition to the court, the victim’s parents said they suspected their daughter was gang-raped.
One man, who worked at the hospital helping people navigate busy queues, has been detained.
However, the city police were accused by an angry public of mishandling the case and the Calcutta High Court transferred the investigation to India’s top investigating agency Central Bureau of Investigation to “inspire public confidence”.
Sexual violence against women is a widespread problem in India – an average of nearly 90 rapes a day were reported in 2022 in the country of 1.4 billion people.
Doctors and medical students hold placards as they take part in a protest march in Amritsar in India's northern state of Punjab. [Narinder Nanu/AFP]
Medical professionals hold posters at a hospital in Bengaluru in the southern state of Karnataka. [Idrees Mohammed/AFP]
All India Dental Students march in Jammu. [Channi Anand/AP Photo]
Allahabad Medical Association (AMA) and resident doctors of SRN Hospital hold candles during a protest in Prayagraj in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. [Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo]
Police officers gather outside RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata during the nationwide strike. [Avijit Ghosh/Reuters]
Medical staff protest at a hospital in Mumbai in the western state of Maharashtra. [Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters]
Doctors hold placards during a protest rally in New Delhi. [Priyanshu Singh/Reuters]
Doctors and medical students hold placards and candles during a protest in Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat. [Ajit Solanki/AP Photo]
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