Indian medics strike after rape and murder of colleague

NEW DELHI: Indian doctors in government hospitals across several states halted elective services “indefinitely” on Monday to protest the rape and murder of a young medic.

The 31-year-old woman´s brutalised body was found bearing multiple injuries on Friday in a state-run hospital in West Bengal´s Kolkata, where she was a resident doctor. A subsequent autopsy confirmed sexual assault and homicide.

Police have detained a man who worked at the victim´s hospital helping people navigate busy queues, according to local media reports. Demonstrations by doctors demanding justice and better workplace security that initially began in Kolkata have now spread to other parts of the country.

Sexual violence against women is a widespread problem in India -- an average of nearly 90 rapes a day were reported in 2022 in the country of 1.4 billion people. But doctors say they face additional threats of workplace violence from angry family members of patients, especially after delivering bad news.

“There should be stringent security measures in hospitals and CCTV cameras should be installed,” said Sarvesh Pandey, from the Federation of Resident Doctors Association. Pandey added that the protesting doctors´ demands included a specialised law protecting healthcare workers from violence on the job.

“There are incidents every day where doctors are assaulted,” said Pandey. A survey by the Indian Medical Association found 75 percent of doctors in India had faced some form of violence.