Indian Doctors to Strike as Anger Grows Over Rape, Murder Case

(Bloomberg) -- Indian doctors will embark on a nationwide strike on Saturday to protest the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor in the eastern city of Kolkata that’s shocked the nation and sparked anger at the police.

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The Indian Medical Association called for a 24-hour strike to highlight the police’s alleged mishandling of the investigation and push for safer working conditions for women doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers. Essential services will be maintained during the strike, but routine and elective procedures won’t take place, the association said in a statement.

Junior doctors and medical students in Kolkata have held nightly vigils this week following the alleged rape and murder of a 31-year-old graduate trainee on Aug. 9 on the premises of a government hospital in the city. A suspect was arrested a day later, although the case was “handled shabbily” by authorities and later stalled, according to the IMA. The Calcutta High Court ordered the case to be handed to the federal Central Bureau of Investigation, expressing discontent with the state police’s handling of the matter.

The incident drew condemnation from politicians, celebrities and activists in a country where cases of sexual violence against women are high and often go unreported. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, a total of 31,516 cases of rape were registered in 2022.

In his Independence Day speech Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for stronger punishment of those who commit sexual crimes, without directly referring to the Kolkata case.

“The need of the hour is that there should be a wide discussion about the criminals who get punished so that even those who commit such sins fear the consequences including hanging to death,” he said. “I feel that it is very important to create this fear.”

The case has drawn parallels with the gang-rape and death of a student in Delhi in 2012, which drew global attention to India’s high levels of sexual violence. The incident led to a wave of protests across the country and prompted the formation of fast-track courts for rape cases along with tighter laws. It also resulted in a higher reporting of rape cases.

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