Hospital services were disrupted in several Indian cities, following a nationwide protests by doctors seeking justice for their 31-year-old colleague who was allegedly rape and murder in Kolkata.
Thousands of doctors withdrew their services and marched across the streets to protest the incident at a government-run hospital, advocating for justice as well as better security measures.
The protest rippled nationwide on Tuesday, with over 8,000 government doctors in Maharashtra state, home to Mumbai, joining the demonstration.
The protest halted work in all hospital departments except emergency services.
In New Delhi, the country’s capital, junior doctors wearing white coats held posters reading “Doctors are not punching bags” as they sat in protest outside a large government hospital, demanding an investigation.
Thousands of patients were left stranded by similar protests in cities like Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh, and Goa, which affected some hospital services.
The Indian Medical Association, the largest grouping of doctors in the country, wrote to Health Minister J P Nadda, highlighting the “pedestrian working conditions, inhuman workloads, and violence in the workplace” faced by doctors.
Despite the weekend arrest of a police volunteer in Kolkata for the doctor’s murder and the resignation of the medical college principal, doctors maintain that their workplace environment remains unsafe.
City police chief Vineet Kumar Goyal confirmed that a case had been registered against the suspect under provisions of the law relating to rape and murder.
Also, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has ordered police to complete their investigation by Sunday, or she would hand it over to federal agencies.
The Indian Emergency services remained suspended on Tuesday in almost all government-run medical college hospitals in Kolkata, according to state official N S Nigam, who added that the government was assessing the impact on health services.
