Indian medics refuse to end protests over doctor's rape and murder
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 India have been protesting and refusing to treat non-emergency patients following the August 9 murder of a 31-year-old doctor in Kolkata. Police have reported that she was raped and killed at the hospital where she was undergoing training.
A police volunteer has been arrested and charged with the crime. Women's rights activists argue that this incident underscores the ongoing issue of sexual violence against women in India, despite the introduction of stricter laws following the 2012 gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a bus in New Delhi.
The government has urged the protesting doctors to resume their duties, announcing the formation of a committee to propose measures for better protection of healthcare professionals.
'Our indefinite cease-work and sit-in will continue until our demands are met,' stated Dr. Aniket Mahata, a spokesperson for the protesting junior doctors at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, where the incident occurred.
In a show of solidarity, thousands of supporters from West Bengal's two largest soccer clubs marched through the streets of Kolkata on Sunday evening, chanting 'We want justice.'
Junior doctors' groups in the capital New Delhi, neighboring Odisha state and the western state of Gujarat have also declared that their protests will persist.
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