Doctors at government hospitals in several Indian states have gone on strike in a protest after the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata on Friday.
The 31-year-old woman was attacked at the state-run RG Kar medical college, where she was a resident doctor, after she went to rest in a seminar room following dinner with colleagues. Her brutalised body was found with multiple injuries and an autopsy confirmed sexual assault and homicide.
On Saturday police arrested Sanjay Roy, a “civic volunteer” at the hospital, in connection with the attack. Roy’s duties were unclear but local media reports said he operated in part as a tout, helping to speed up admissions for patients in return for money.
Protests by doctors demanding justice and better workplace security that initially began in Kolkata, in West Bengal, have now spread to other parts of the country.
“This decision is not made lightly but is necessary to ensure that our voices are heard,” the doctors’ federation said in a statement. The federation said it was demanding not only a speedy trial but also an inquiry to pinpoint the factors that made the crime possible, and urgent measures to improve the safety of doctors, especially women, in hospitals.
Nisha Alum, a nurse at Holy Family hospital in Delhi, said: “We have learnt nothing from the 2012 gang-rape and murder. Forget being safe on the roads at night. Women are not even safe at their place of work.”
The victim’s father had bought her a car six months ago, worried about the late hours she worked and travelling at night. “I wanted her to be safe on the roads at night but she wasn’t even safe at the hospital as a doctor on duty,” he told reporters.
Dr Rajan Sharma, a former president of the Indian Medical Association, said urgent changes needed to be made to the way government hospitals operated, particularly with regards to access.
“Why can’t we post security guards?” Sharma said. “Why can’t we have proper screening, along with just one entrance and one exit? And strictly enforced visiting hours? These crimes don’t happen in private hospitals for a reason – they have systems in place. It’s as simple as that.”
Doctors in India say that on top of sexual violence they also face the threat of attacks from angry family members of patients, especially after delivering bad news. A survey by the Indian Medical Association found 75% of doctors in India had faced some form of violence.
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