KOLKATA: Thousands of Indian junior doctors on Monday (Aug 19) refused to end protests over the rape and murder of a fellow medic, disrupting hospital services nearly a week after they launched a nationwide action demanding a safer workplace and swift criminal probe.
Doctors across the country have held protests and declined to see non-emergency patients following the Aug 9 killing of the 31-year-old medic, whom police say was raped and murdered at a hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata where she was a trainee.
A police volunteer has been arrested and charged with the crime. Women activists say the incident has highlighted how women in India continue to suffer from sexual violence despite tougher laws brought in after the 2012 gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi.
The government has urged doctors to return to duty while it sets up a committee to suggest measures to improve protection for healthcare professionals.
“Our indefinite cease-work and sit-in will continue till our demands are met,” said Dr Aniket Mahata, a spokesperson for protesting junior doctors at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, where the incident happened.
