Rape and murder of a doctor triggers strike by doctors in state hospitals in India

Indian doctors at government hospitals in several states on Monday suspended their scheduled surgeries “indefinitely” to protest the rape and murder of a young doctor.

The battered body of the 31-year-old woman was found on Friday with numerous injuries in a government hospital in Calcutta, West Bengal, where she had worked as an assistant doctor.

A subsequent autopsy confirmed sexual assault and murder.

According to local media reports, police arrested a man who worked at the victim’s hospital and helped people navigate long lines.

Demonstrations by doctors for justice and better safety at work began in Calcutta and have now spread to other parts of the country.

Doctors report that they also face threats of violence at work from angry family members of patients, especially after delivering bad news.

“Strict security measures should be taken in hospitals and CCTV cameras should be installed,” said Sarvesh Pandey of the Federation of Resident Doctors Association.

Pandey added that the protesting doctors were demanding, among other things, a special law to protect healthcare workers from workplace violence.

“Attacks on doctors occur every day,” Pandey said.

According to a survey by the Indian Medical Association, 75 percent of doctors in India have been victims of some form of violence.

Worrying trend

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, an average of nearly 90 rapes were reported per day in India in 2022.

This year, police 11 people arrested after the alleged brutal gang rape and torture of a young woman, during which she was paraded through the streets of Delhi. Also in 2022, a police officer in India was arrested after accused of rape a 13-year-old girl who went to his station to report that she had been the victim of a gang rape.

In March, several Indian men were arrested after the Gang rape of a Spanish tourist on a motorcycle trip with her husband.

In 2021, a 34-year-old woman died in Mumbai after raped and brutally tortured.

Many rapes are not reported because victims are stigmatized and lack trust in police investigations.

Convictions remain rare and cases remain stuck for years in India’s clogged judicial system.

The infamous gang rape and murder of an Indian student global headlines in 2012.

Jyoti Singh, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student, was raped, attacked and left for dead by five men and a teenager on a bus in New Delhi in December of the same year.

The gruesome crime drew international attention to India’s high levels of sexual violence and sparked weeks of protests. Eventually, a law was changed that made Death penalty for rape.