Medical associations in several states on August 12 called on doctors at public hospitals to suspend all services indefinitely to urge the court to quickly resolve the rape and murder of a trainee doctor last week, and called for the formation of a protection committee for medical staff.
Earlier on August 9, the body of a resident doctor was found with multiple injuries and signs of sexual assault in a seminar hall at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. A suspect has been arrested.
Young doctors protest against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor from Kolkata, at Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, August 12. Photo: AFP
"Around 300,000 doctors across the country participated in the protest and we hope many more will join tomorrow," said Dr Sarvesh Pandey, general secretary of the Federation of Internal Medicine Resident Doctors Association (FORDA).
“This murder of a young woman doctor is not the first, nor will it be the last unless action is taken,” the association said in a letter to India’s health minister on August 13. The letter called for an inquiry into the working conditions of doctors and an impartial investigation into the brutal murder.
In Kolkata and the capital Delhi, doctors held banners reading: "Save our doctors, save our future." In the southern city of Hyderabad, doctors held a candlelight vigil.
Many doctors also stressed that violence against health care workers and threats of physical violence come from patients or their family members.
A 2015 survey by the Indian Medical Association found that 75% of doctors in India had faced at least one form of violence, local media reported at the time.
India has struggled for years to address high levels of violence against women, with several high-profile rape cases attracting international attention. According to India's National Crime Records Bureau, a total of 31,516 rapes were reported in 2022, an average of 86 a day.
Experts warn that the number of recorded cases is only a fraction of the true figure, especially in a deeply patriarchal country where shame and stigma surround rape victims and their families.
In 2012, the gang rape of a medical student shocked India and the world. The victim was beaten, tortured and left for dead after a brutal attack on a public bus in New Delhi.
The case and the protests across India that followed attracted international media attention, prompting the government to enact legal reforms. The rape law was amended in 2013 to broaden the definition of the crime and impose harsher penalties not only for rape but also for sexual assault, harassment and stalking.
Despite these changes, rape remains rampant in India, with victims and many others saying the government has not done enough to protect women and punish attackers.
Hoai Phuong (according to CNN)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/cac-bac-si-an-do-dinh-cong-len-an-vu-cuong-hiep-va-giet-hai-nu-dong-nghiep-post307619.html
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