More Indian hospitals hit by doctors' protest against alleged rape and murder of medic

Doctors maintain their workplace environment is unsafe

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Doctors, paramedics and medical students from various medical institutions and colleges gather on Monday as they attend a protest against the alleged rape and murder of a doctor, inside the premises of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, India. REUTERS

By Reuters

Published: Tue 13 Aug 2024, 5:25 PM

Last updated: Tue 13 Aug 2024, 5:26 PM

Hospital services were disrupted in several Indian cities on Tuesday, after the nationwide stir by doctors in protest against the alleged rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor in the eastern city of Kolkata, authorities and media said.

Television images showed thousands of doctors marching on Monday to protest the incident at a government-run hospital, calling for justice for the victim and better security measures, paralysing health services in the state of West Bengal.

Activists and medical professionals shout slogans and hold posters during a protest in Kolkata on Monday to condemn the alleged rape and murder of a young medic. AFP
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The protest rippled nationwide on Tuesday, joined by more than 8,000 government doctors in the western Maharashtra state, home to the financial capital of Mumbai, halting work in all hospital departments except emergency services, media said.

Practicing doctors and medical staff display placards during a demonstration held at a government hospital in New Delhi on Monday in protest against the alleged rape and murder of a young medic in Kolkata, India. AFP

In the capital, New Delhi, junior doctors wearing white coats held posters that read, "Doctors are not punching bags," as they sat in protest outside a large government hospital to demand an investigation, Reuters Television images showed.

Thousands of patients were left stranded by similar protests in cities such as Lucknow, capital of the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, and in the western tourist resort state of Goa that crippled some hospital services, media said.

"Pedestrian working conditions, inhuman workloads and violence in the workplace are the reality," the Indian Medical Association, the biggest grouping of doctors in the country, told Health Minister J P Nadda in a letter.

A health ministry spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Doctors maintain their workplace environment is unsafe, even after the weekend arrest of a police volunteer in Kolkata for the doctor's murder, and the resignation of the principal of the medical college where it happened.

City police chief Vineet Kumar Goyal told reporters a case had been registered against the suspect under provisions of the law relating to rape and murder.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters she had given state police a deadline of Sunday to complete their investigation or she would hand it to federal agencies.

Emergency services stayed suspended on Tuesday in almost all the government-run medical college hospitals in Kolkata, state official N S Nigam told Reuters, adding that the government was assessing the impact on health services.

Reuters

Published: Tue 13 Aug 2024, 5:25 PM

Last updated: Tue 13 Aug 2024, 5:26 PM

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