Indian physicians demand a nationwide closure in response to the rape-murder of a doctor in Kolkata

In a demonstration against the barbaric rape and murder of a physician, an association of Indian doctors requested that over one million colleagues nationwide provide only essential services on Saturday. This strike is expected to be the largest of its kind in recent history.

A week after the 31-year-old doctor was discovered deceased on a blood-soaked mattress in the medical college where she was employed in the eastern city of Kolkata, the anger over the crime failed to subside.

After working for nearly 20 hours of a 36-hour shift, she had taken a brief snooze on a carpet in a college lecture hall, according to staff at the R G Kar Medical College, quoted by Reuters.

The protests of physicians and women’s organizations have been fueled by anger at the inability of tough laws to stem the increasing violence against women.
Reuters was informed by R V Asokan, the president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), the largest organization of practitioners, that the sentiments are distinct this time. The IMA has 400,000 members.

“The profession in this country is primarily composed of women.” Time and time again, we have requested their safety.

The IMA issued a call to all practicing physicians in India, a population that it estimates to be over one million, to suspend all services nationwide, with the exception of emergency departments, for 24 hours starting on Saturday morning. This call was made late on Thursday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in opposition in the state of West Bengal, whose capital is Kolkata, and is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have announced that they will conduct protests in the city on Friday.

Bollywood actors, politicians, and other personalities have expressed their astonishment at the crime and have called for more severe penalties for the perpetrators.
A police volunteer with a low income, who was assigned to assist local police officers and their families who required hospitalization, has been arrested and charged with the offense. However, demonstrators contend that this is inadequate.

The circumstances of the rape, according to physicians, underscore the vulnerability of clinicians who are not provided with adequate protection and facilities.

After the 2012 gang-rape of a 23-year-old student in a moving bus, which prompted similar protests and outrage, the criminal justice system underwent significant changes, including the imposition of harsher sentences. However, campaigners believe that little has changed since then.

Guidelines were issued by the health ministry on Friday, mandating that the leaders of state-run hospitals and medical colleges report incidents of violence against health care personnel within six hours.