Doctors throughout India launched a nationwide strike on Saturday in protest of the horrific rape and murder of a trainee medic at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, West Bengal.
The 31-year-old doctor was found dead last Friday after being assaulted while resting in a lecture hall following nearly 20 hours of work during a 36-hour shift.
Authorities have detained a police volunteer working at the hospital in connection with the crime.
However, the victim’s family suspects that more individuals were involved in the attack. The incident has sparked widespread outrage among the medical community, leading to a unified call for justice.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA), the country’s largest organization representing doctors and healthcare workers, spearheaded the strike. The IMA called for a 24-hour halt to non-emergency medical services starting from 6 a.m. on Saturday as a demonstration against the brutal crime and to demand better safety measures for healthcare professionals. Despite the strike, the IMA assured that essential services would continue to operate.
In its statement, the IMA condemned the attack, describing it as a” crime of barbaric scale” that underscores the dangerous lack of safe spaces for women, even within professional environments. The association urged the public to support their fight for justice. It demanded that more robust legal protections be put in place, including making any assault on on-duty doctors a non-bailable offence.
Participation in the strike was widespread, with reports indicating that about 90% of doctors joined the protest, significantly impacting medical services nationwide. In Cuttack, for example, a patient named Raghunath Sahu expressed frustration after his ailing grandmother could not be seen at SCB Medical College and Hospital due to the strike, forcing them to return another day.
The strike has drawn international attention, with the British Medical Association (BMA) expressing horror at the incident. The BMA emphasized that no doctor should ever face such dangers in their workplace, echoing the sentiments of their Indian counterparts.
This tragic event has further fueled nationwide demonstrations, not just by medical professionals but also by women’s groups outraged by the persistent violence against women in India.
Earlier in the week, hundreds of thousands of women marched nationwide, chanting”Reclaim the night” as they demanded safer environments for women.
Prominent legal voices, like senior criminal lawyer Shobha Gupta, have stressed the need for swift and severe punishment for such crimes to act as a deterrent.
Gupta, who has represented victims in high-profile cases like the 2002 Gujarat riots, argued that justice must be delivered swiftly to ensure it leaves a lasting impact on society and helps prevent future atrocities.
