The striking doctors in the Indian state of West Bengal have agreed to resume essential services, but will continue their strike that began after a 31-year-old colleague was raped and killed over a month ago.
The case triggered a wave of protests from doctors demanding greater workplace safety for women and justice for the victim, leading the Supreme Court of India to establish a task force on the issue. Now, the trainee doctors will resume their essential duties starting Saturday, announced the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front, which represents about 7,000 doctors in the state, in a statement released on Thursday.
“The movement for justice will continue in all state hospitals, but we have decided to resume essential services in the hospitals due to the flooding situation in some parts of the state,” said Aniket Mahato from the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front. Nevertheless, the doctors’ demands for better safety, including additional surveillance camera coverage, deployment of female security personnel, proper lighting, restrooms, and rest areas, will continue.
A police volunteer has been arrested on suspicion of being involved in the rape and death of a doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, in Kolkata. The former director of the college was arrested on charges of evidence tampering and corruption; and the police chief in Kolkata has also been replaced. Although stricter laws have been introduced following the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in the national capital, New Delhi, in 2012, activists say the Kolkata case highlights how women continue to be victims of sexual violence in the country.
The 31-year-old doctor was found dead on August 9 at R.G. Kar University Hospital after completing a 36-hour shift and leaving duty to rest in a seminar room. Colleagues found her half-naked and with severe injuries. About a week later, on August 15 — the day India celebrates its independence — thousands of Indian female doctors took to the streets to “proclaim the night,” demand justice for the attacked doctor, and call for more safety and better working conditions.
During the protests, a group of unidentified men stormed and assaulted the emergency department of R.G. Kar University Hospital, also damaging some vehicles of the authorities present on site, but the police dispersed them with tear gas and the peaceful protest continued. Two days later, on August 17, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) called for a strike that paralyzed non-essential medical services across the country for 24 hours. The strike joined previously announced stoppages by other associations, namely the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Associations of India (FORDA).
All hospitals in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand joined the strike, and there was also strong participation in the stoppage in places like Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu (South), or in the state of Assam (Northeast). Protests have continued over the past weeks, but essential services will be resumed by the trainee doctors to ensure assistance to the victims of the floods that have been affecting parts of India in recent days.