Indian doctors held a nationwide strike on Saturday, escalating protests after the “barbaric” rape and murder of their colleague that has channelled outrage at the chronic issue of violence against women.
A number of cities across the nation saw violent protests after the bloodied body of the 31-year-old doctor was found on August 9 at a state-run hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata.
Tens of thousands of common Indians have joined the demands for action, many of which have been spearheaded by physicians and other healthcare professionals.
Thousands of people in Kolkata kept a candlelit vigil until the wee hours of Saturday morning.
“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 fact that the dead doctor was discovered in the seminar hall of the teaching hospital suggests that she had taken a break during her 36-hour shift there.
In a petition to the court, the victim’s parents stated they suspected their daughter had been gang-raped, and an autopsy confirmed the sexual assault.
One hospital employee who assisted patients in navigating long lines has been placed under arrest.
However, Kolkata’s police were accused by an angry public of mishandling the case and the city’s High Court transferred the investigation to India’s top Central Bureau of Investigation to “inspire public confidence”.
Those in government hospitals across several states on Monday halted elective services “indefinitely”, with multiple medical unions in both government and private systems backing the strikes.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) escalated protests on Saturday morning with a 24-hour “nationwide withdrawal of services”, and the suspension of all non-essential procedures.
“We ask for the understanding and support of the nation in this struggle for justice for its doctors and daughters,” IMA chief R.V. Asokan said in a statement ahead of the strike.
The IMA called the killing “barbaric”.
“The 36-hour duty shift that the victim was in and the lack of safe spaces to rest… warrant a thorough overhaul of the working and living conditions of the resident doctors,” the IMA said in a statement.
Doctors are demanding the implementation of the Central Protection Act, a bill to protect healthcare workers from violence.
“There is a lack of proper infrastructure,” said 29-year-old Akanksha Tyagi, a resident at the Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi who took part in one of the multiple protests around the country.
“After working for 24-36 hours at a stretch, there’s no proper place for us to rest,” she said.
Outpatient services were disrupted by the strike.
Many people who had arrived for their scheduled appointments at Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia public hospital—one of the busiest in the city—were turned away.
Shivdev Kumar, 50, had travelled over 20 kilometres (12 miles) with the tuberculosis reports of his daughter, only to find the doctor’s room locked.
“I had no idea, otherwise I would not have such a long way,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanded on Thursday swift punishment for those who commit “monstrous” deeds against women.
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.
For many, the gruesome nature of the hospital attack has invoked comparisons with the horrific 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a Delhi bus.
That woman became a symbol of socially conservative India’s failure to tackle sexual violence against women.
Her death sparked huge, and at times violent, demonstrations in Delhi and elsewhere.
The government implemented the death penalty for repeat offenders and tougher penalties for rapists in response to public pressure.
In addition, a number of new sexual offenses were added, such as stalking, and public servants who decline to file rape reports may now face jail time.
AFP
