iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
Pen-chan, a female Cape penguin born and raised in captivity, absconded from an event in the central Aichi region on August 25
KT APPDOWNLOAD
Indian medics refuse to end protests over doctor's rape and murder
The government has urged doctors to return to duty while it sets up a committee to suggest measures to improve protection for healthcare professionals
Doctors shout slogans as they hold placards during a protest rally demanding justice following the rape and murder of a trainee medic at a hospital in Kolkata, in New Delhi, India, on Sunday. — Reuters
Thousands of Indian junior doctors on Monday 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 August 9 killing of the 31-year-old medic, who 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.
In solidarity with the doctors, thousands of supporters of West Bengal state's two biggest soccer clubs marched on the streets of Kolkata on Sunday evening with chants of "We want justice".
Groups representing junior doctors in neighbouring Odisha state, the capital New Delhi, and in the western state of Gujarat have also said their protests will continue.
Gita Gopinath, deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, told India's Business Standard daily that workplace safety was important to raise the country's female labour force participation rate, which was 37 per cent in FY2022-23.
"One cannot raise that (female participation) without ensuring safety at the workplace and safety of women in getting to the workplace. That is absolutely critical," Gopinath said in the interview published on Monday.
More news from World
Air traffic was unaffected and no flights were interrupted
Machado remains mostly in hiding, but has led a handful of anti-Maduro protests since the disputed vote
Kennedy dropped out as an independent candidate in the presidential race last month and endorsed Trump
Floods began when a dam overflowed following heavy rains, uprooting thousands of people
Government and private colleges in the state, which borders Myanmar, will also be shut on Wednesday and Thursday
Finland plans law to ban use of personal phones in schools
Excited crowds line streets in baking heat to see pontiff