Indian doctors refuse patients, demand tougher laws after sex assault, murder of colleague
By Carl Samson
Physicians across India are declining to treat non-emergency patients while demanding safer workplaces in protest of the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor in the eastern city of Kolkata on Aug. 9. The strike, which began on the same day, has since severely disrupted medical services nationwide.
- Driving the protest: The trainee doctor was brutally raped and murdered at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. Her autopsy result shows multiple injuries, suggesting that she resisted her attackers before being strangled to death. A police volunteer was arrested, but the victim’s family alleges a gang rape, prompting the case to be transferred to India’s Central Bureau of Investigations. The incident has sparked nationwide outrage, reminiscent of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape case, with thousands taking to the streets demanding justice.
- What the doctors are saying: The protesting physicians are demanding immediate and stringent safety measures, including increased hospital security, safe spaces for resting and legal protections that would make any attack on on-duty medics a non-bailable offense. “Our indefinite cease-work and sit-in will continue till our demands are met,” Dr. Aniket Mahata, a spokesperson for the striking junior doctors at R.G. Kar Medical College, said. The government has promised to set up a committee to address these concerns.
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