Hospital services were disrupted in several Indian cities on Tuesday following a nationwide protest by doctors after the rape and murder of a trainee medic in Kolkata, according to authorities and media reports.
Thousands of doctors marched in Kolkata and the surrounding West Bengal state on Monday to denounce the crime at a government-run hospital. They demanded justice for the victim and improved security measures.
The 31-year-old doctor was found dead on Friday. Police reported that she had been raped and murdered, and a police volunteer was arrested in connection with the crime.
Protests continued on Tuesday, with over 8,000 government doctors in Maharashtra, which includes Mumbai, halting work in all hospital departments except for emergency services, according to media reports.
In New Delhi, junior doctors wearing white coats held posters reading, "Doctors are not punching bags," as they protested outside a large government hospital, as shown in Reuters Television images.
Similar demonstrations occurred in cities like Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, and Goa, affecting some hospital services, according to media sources.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA), the largest group of doctors in the country, wrote to health minister JP Nadda, stating, "Pedestrian working conditions, inhuman workloads and violence in the workplace are the reality." They met him for talks on Tuesday.
IMA general secretary Anil Kumar J Nayak told ANI that the group urged Nadda to enhance security at medical facilities. The health ministry did not provide an immediate comment.
A high court in Kolkata ordered that the criminal investigation be transferred to India's federal police, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), indicating that authorities are treating the case as a national priority.
Emergency services remained suspended on Tuesday in nearly all government-run medical college hospitals in Kolkata, according to state official NS Nigam, who added that the government was assessing the impact on health services.
Doctors in India's crowded government hospitals have long reported being overworked and underpaid, asserting that insufficient measures are taken to prevent violence against them by individuals dissatisfied with the medical care provided.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Martin Rosenbaum (Pic credit: rosenbaum.org.uk)
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