Hundreds of doctors gathered near India’s health ministry to demand stricter laws protecting healthcare workers from violence and seeking justice for a colleague who was raped and killed in a state-run hospital. The protesting doctors displayed signs with messages like “Justice delayed is justice denied” and were prevented by the police from setting up free outpatient services for patients outside the ministry in New Delhi. These demonstrations have been ongoing for over a week.
Healthcare professionals all across India have been engaging in protests, candlelight vigils, and temporarily limiting non-emergency care following the tragic incident involving the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor in Kolkata on August 9. The doctors argue that this assault underscores the vulnerability of medics and healthcare workers in medical facilities throughout India. They are calling for stronger laws to safeguard them from violence, including categorizing any attack on on-duty medics as an offense without the option of bail, enhanced security measures at hospitals, and designated safe areas for staff rest.
The government has urged doctors to resume their duties and has committed to forming a committee to address their demands. The horrific incident at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital has not only sparked anger over violence against women but also prompted nationwide protests.
A police volunteer at the hospital has been arrested and charged in connection with the crime; however, the victim’s family alleges it was a gang rape involving more perpetrators. The case is now being handled by federal investigators. In Kolkata, numerous individuals, predominantly women, have taken to the streets demanding justice for the doctor, emphasizing how women in India are still confronted with escalating violence despite stringent laws introduced following the 2012 gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a bus in Delhi.
That tragic event led to lawmakers imposing harsher punishments for such offenses, establishing swift-track courts dedicated to rape cases, and even introducing the death penalty for repeat offenders. Yet, sexual violence against women remains a pervasive issue in India. In 2022, police documented 31,516 instances of rape, signifying a 20% increase from the previous year according to the National Crime Records Bureau.