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August 17, 2024. – Indian doctors on Saturday held a 24-hour strike to protest the rape and murder of a young doctor that shocked the country and has been expressing outrage over the long-standing problem of violence against women for days.
The body of the 31-year-old doctor was found on August 9 at the public hospital where she worked in Kolkata, eastern India, with multiple injuries.
The body was found in the university hospital’s amphitheater, suggesting the young woman had gone there to rest during her long 36-hour shift.
An autopsy confirmed sexual assault and the victim’s parents, in a petition filed in the court, said they suspected their daughter was a victim of gang rape.
Doctors and other health professionals then began protesting across the country, joined by tens of thousands of ordinary citizens.
On Saturday morning, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) escalated the protests by announcing a 24-hour “national shutdown” and suspending all non-essential medical interventions.
IMA leader RV Asokan said: “We ask for the nation’s understanding and support to get justice for the doctor and his daughter.”
The IMA stressed that “the victim’s 36-hour shift and lack of safe resting place necessitate a comprehensive review of the working and living conditions of resident doctors,” and called the murder “barbaric.”
‘Horrible behavior’
The doctors demanded proper application of the so-called Central Protection Act, which is aimed at protecting medical staff from violence.
Kolkata police has been accused of mishandling the case and the city’s high court on Tuesday handed it over to federal agency the Central Bureau of Investigation to “inspire public confidence”.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for “swift and severe punishment for this horrific act against women”.
“Healing hands should not bleed,” read a sign written by a protester in Kolkata, where thousands of people held a candlelight vigil until early Saturday morning. “Enough,” read another banner at a rally in the capital, New Delhi.
Since Monday, doctors at several state public institutions have been “uncertain” about stopping non-urgent treatments to demand more safety guarantees.
Sexual assault on women is a long-standing problem in India, with an average of nearly 90 rapes per day in 2022 in the country of 1.4 billion people.
In 2012, the rape and murder of a young woman on a New Delhi bus shocked the world and sparked massive protests across the country.
Under pressure from public opinion, the Indian government has imposed harsher punishments on rapists and even sentenced repeat offenders to death.
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