Indian doctor strikes, protests grow after colleague's murder

NEW DELHI

Indian doctors said Friday they would increase nationwide protests and strikes after the rape and murder of a colleague, a brutal killing that has focused outrage on the chronic issue of violence against women.

The discovery of the 31-year-old's bloodied and brutalized body on August 9 at a state-run hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata has sparked nationwide protests.

"We are intensifying our protests... to demand justice for our colleague," Suvrankar Datta said Friday from the government-run All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in New Delhi.

Those in government hospitals across several states on Monday halted elective services "indefinitely" in protest.

Multiple medical unions in both government and private systems have backed the strike.

Thousands marched through the streets of Kolkata overnight Wednesday to condemn the killing, with a candlelight rally at midnight coinciding with the start of India's independence day celebrations.

The Indian Medical Association has called for a "nationwide withdrawal of services" for 24 hours starting Saturday, with the suspension of all non-essential medical procedures at private hospitals.

Indian media have reported that the murdered doctor was found in the teaching hospital's seminar hall, suggesting she had gone there for a brief rest during a long shift.

An autopsy has confirmed sexual assault, and in a petition to the court, the victim's parents have said that they suspected their daughter was gang-raped, according to Indian broadcaster NDTV.

 'Atrocities'

Though police have detained a man who worked at the hospital helping people navigate busy queues, state government officers have been accused of mishandling the case.

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.

For many, the gruesome nature of the attack has invoked comparisons with the horrific 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a Delhi bus.

The woman became a symbol of the socially conservative country's failure to tackle sexual violence against women.

Her death sparked huge, and at times violent, demonstrations in Delhi and elsewhere.

Under pressure, the government introduced harsher penalties for rapists, including the death penalty for repeat offenders.

Several new sexual offenses were also introduced, including for stalking, and officials who refuse to register rape complaints can now be jailed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday demanded swift punishment for those who commit "monstrous" deeds against women.

"There is anger for atrocities committed against our mothers and sisters," Modi said.

"Crimes against women should be quickly investigated; monstrous behavior against women should be severely and quickly punished."

Doctors have also demanded the implementation of the Central Protection Act, a bill to protect healthcare workers from violence.