India Protests Intensify over Female Doctor’s Rape & Murder

Cherylann Mollan – BBC News, Mumbai

Several doctors’ associations are set to hold protests over the weekend

August 16, 2024 – Protests have intensified in India after a mob vandalised a hospital where a female trainee doctor was raped and murdered in West Bengal state.

The hospital was attacked on Wednesday during the massive Reclaim the Night march held in Kolkata city to protest against the brutal crime.

Smaller protests were also held in many other Indian cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) – the country’s largest grouping of doctors – has announced a nationwide strike of non-emergency services on Saturday.

Doctor’s associations in other cities and political parties in West Bengal have also planned marches on Friday and over the weekend to protest against the attack.

Tens of thousands of women across the state participated in the Reclaim the Night march on Wednesday night to demand “independence to live in freedom and without fear”.

Though the protests were largely peaceful, clashes erupted between the police and a small group of unidentified men who barged into the RG Kar Hospital – the site of the crime – and ransacked its emergency ward.

Videos circulated online showed the men smashing beds and equipment with sticks.

Indian women lead night protests after doctor’s rape and murder

Protesters told the BBC that some doctors and hospital staff were injured in the attack. Some police vehicles were also damaged in the chaos and tear gas had to be used to disperse the crowd.

The Kolkata police have arrested 19 people in connection with the incident so far.

On Thursday, the IMA condemned the attack, calling it “hooliganism unleashed on protesting students” and announced the withdrawal of non-emergency services for 24 hours starting at 06:00 local time [00:30 GMT] on Saturday.

“Doctors, especially women, are vulnerable to violence because of the nature of the profession. It is for the authorities to provide for the safety of doctors inside hospitals and campuses,” the IMA said in a statement.

“The IMA requires the sympathy of the nation with the just cause of its doctors.”

The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (Forda) – another top doctors’ association – has also resumed its strike after calling it off on Tuesday.

The protest was called off after federal Health Minister JP Nadda assured its members that their demands – including a federal law to curb attacks on doctors – would be met.

The incident has also sparked a political blame game in West Bengal, with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing the governing Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) of orchestrating the attack.

The TMC has refuted the allegation and has blamed “political outsiders” for stoking the violence.

The rape of the 31-year-old female trainee doctor has shocked the country.

Her half-naked body bearing extensive injuries was discovered in a seminar hall last week. A hospital volunteer who worked at the hospital has been arrested in connection with the crime.

Since then, two more incidents of rape have made headlines in India.

In the northern state of Uttarakhand, a nurse was allegedly raped and killed while returning home from work. She had gone missing at the end of July and her body was found last week. Police have arrested a man from the western state of Rajasthan in connection with the crime.

Meanwhile, six people have been arrested in the northern state of Bihar for the alleged gang-rape and murder of a teenage Dalit girl. Her mutilated body was found near a pond in a village in Muzaffarpur district on Tuesday morning.

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Protests grow in India over rape, killing of Kolkata trainee doctor | AP News

India – Protests over the rape & killing of a doctor at a state-run hospital

Medical workers in New Delhi demand safer working conditions after trainee doctor raped and killed

BY  PIYUSH NAGPAL

August 16, 2024 – NEW DELHI (AP) — Thousands of people marched through various Indian cities Friday to protest the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a government hospital, demanding justice and better security at medical campuses and hospitals.

Demonstrators held signs calling for accountability for the woman’s rape and killing as they gathered near Parliament in New Delhi. Similar protests were held in the eastern city of Kolkata — the capital of West Bengal state where the killing took place — and other Indian cities like Mumbai and Hyderabad.

The protests, which have generally been peaceful, began Aug. 9 when police discovered the bloodied body of the 31-year-old trainee doctor at the state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital’s seminar hall in Kolkata.

An autopsy later confirmed sexual assault, and a police volunteer was detained in connection with the crime. The family of the victim alleged it was a case of a gang rape and more were involved.

State government officers who first began investigating the case have been accused of mishandling it. Police later handed the case to federal investigators following a court order.

WUNRN

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8jlegg242no