Indian doctors expand strike over rape, murder of colleague

NEW DELHI

Indian doctors expanded their strike across the country over rape and murder of their colleague.

The doctors began a 24-hour-long strike across the country from Saturday. The halt to medical services comes after a trainee doctor was raped and murdered at a medical college in the eastern West Bengal state last week.

Indian Medical Association (IMA), a top private body of doctors in India which has over 400,000 doctors associated with it, said emergency services will continue but there will be no out-patient department services and no elective surgeries.

Doctors across the country began participating in the strike, badly impacting health services.

The trainee doctor, 31, was attacked at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, last week.

Her body was found inside the hospital and autopsy showed she suffered sexual assault before being killed. The incident triggered nationwide protests.

IMA said the incident has brought to fore the two dimensions of violence in the hospital.

“A crime of barbaric scale due to lack of space for women and the hooliganism that is unleashed due to lack of an unorganized security protocol,” it said late on Friday night.

The top body has demanded enhanced security, and professional investigation into the crime.

A statement by North Zone Orthopedics Association said: “The incident highlights grave concerns surrounding the safety of doctors, especially women, in their workplace. We stand in full solidarity with our colleagues across the country. Stringent measures needed to be implemented to protect the lives and dignity of doctors and the healthcare workers.”

While India’s Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) is currently investigating the case, politicians have started a blame game.

The Indian Health Ministry recently directed all government hospitals to file police complaints within six hours of any violence on their premises.