Doctors who have decided to go on an indefinite strike across the country in response to the rape and murder of their colleagues gathered in front of the Ministry of Health in the capital New Delhi.
“Doctors across the country are questioning why it is so difficult to enact a law for our safety,” Dhruv Chauhan of the Indian Medical Association’s Young Doctors Network told the Press Trust of India news agency. “The strike will continue until all demands are officially met,” Chauhan had shared.
DEMANDING STRONGER LAWS TO PROTECT AGAINST VIOLENCE
The doctors carried banners reading “Justice delayed is justice denied.” They demanded stronger laws to protect healthcare personnel from violence and called for any attack on healthcare workers on duty to be made a crime that does not require bail.
Doctors, who stated that they would continue to see patients in accordance with their Hippocratic Oath, tried to provide free outpatient treatment to patients waiting in front of the ministry, but were prevented by the police.
The Indian government, on the other hand, asked the striking doctors to return to their duties and announced that a committee would be formed to examine the demands.
WHAT HAPPENED?
On August 8, a 31-year-old female doctor working at the RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, fell asleep in a room where seminars were being held after a 36-hour shift because there was no break room for staff.
The next morning, her colleagues found her lifeless body, half-naked and with severe injuries on various parts of her body. A volunteer at the hospital, Sanjoy Roy, was arrested in connection with the matter, but after accusations of “cover-up and negligence”, the case was transferred from the local police to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE PROTESTED THE HORROR
According to reports in the Indian press, thousands of people gathered in various cities in the state of West Bengal and in the city of Kolkata after calls were made on social media. The protesters, mostly women, marched with torches and banners in protests they called “Take back the night” and chanted slogans such as “We want justice”. Demonstrations were held in 100 locations in Kolkata, while protests were also held in cities such as New Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.
Many doctors from various cities across the country announced that they had decided to go on an indefinite strike due to the rape and murder of their colleagues. (AA)