Protest by junior doctors, students and citizens in Kolkata. PTI Photo
To protest the brutal rape and murder of a trainee medical student and the violent attack on resident and junior doctors at R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has announced a 24-hour nationwide doctors’ strike from 6 am on Saturday, August 17th, to 6 am on Sunday, August 18th. While essential services and casualties will be catered to, OPDs will not function and elective surgeries will not be performed during the strike.
On 9th August, Friday, a 31-year-old chest medicine department post graduate trainee doctor, was brutally raped and killed at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, an incident which has shaken the entire nation. Meanwhile, four doctors of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital have been reportedly summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Kolkata on Friday amid the ongoing protests.
Vandalism at Kolkata Hospital
Several departments of the R. G. Kar Medical College in Kolkata were vandalised on Wednesday evening. A large group of unidentified miscreants entered the Hospital around 12.40 am on Thursday and vandalised hospital property while junior doctors’ were protesting at the premises against the horrific rape and murder. The group also targeted the makeshift protest-dais. The incident took place at a time when midnight protests named ‘Reclaim the Night’ were being held by women against the crime.
A group of miscreants vandalised several wards of R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital Kolkata on Wednesday. PTI Photo
While BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari has alleged that the vandalism was carried out by “TMC goons” sent by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the CM has blamed the midnight violence on “politically-motivated outsiders who wish to create issues in the state.” The police have so far detained 12 persons for their alleged involvement in the incident.
The IMA says
A statement released by the Indian Medical Asociateion (IMA) reads, “Subsequent to the brutal crime in R. G. Kar Medical College Kolkata and the hooliganism unleashed on the protesting students on the eve of the Independence Day, Indian Medical Association declares nationwide withdrawal of services by doctors of modern medicine from 6:00 a.m. on Saturday 17th August to 6:00 a.m. on Sunday 18th August for 24 hours. All essential services will be maintained. Casualties will be manned. Routine OPDs will not function and elective surgeries will not be conducted. The withdrawal is across all the sectors wherever modern medicine doctors app providing service. IMA requires the sympathy of the nation with the just cause of its doctors.”
The IMA in its statement has mentioned, “Doctors especially women are vulnerable to violence because of the nature of the profession. It is for the authority is to provide for the safety of doctors inside hospitals and campuses. Both physical assault and crimes are result of indifference and insensitivity of the concerned authorities to the needs of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers.”
Rape and murder of junior doctor in Kolkata
On 9th August, Friday, a 31-year-old chest medicine department post graduate trainee doctor, who was on duty on Thursday night at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, was sexually assaulted before being murdered inside the hospital’s seminar hall, her post-mortem report has revealed.
Rallies, gatherings and candlelight marches are being held by students, junior doctors and citizens across India to protest against this brutal incident and demand justice. A civic volunteer was arrested the day after the crime, who is currently in CBI custody.
“The woman was bleeding from her eyes, mouth and private parts with injuries on her face, belly, left leg, neck, in her right hand, ring finger, and lips,” mentions her autopsy report. The post-mortem report further stated that the cause of death was smothering and throttling. There were abrasion marks and bruises on the victim’s face, extending from the eyes to the neck.
Meanwhile, PTI reported citing a police officer that there was circumstantial evidence also indicating a possibility that the doctor was first murdered and then raped.
A petition filed by the victim’s parents in Calcutta High Court said that the autopsy found 150 mg of semen in the victim’s body, “a quantity suggesting involvement of more than one individual, further corroborated the suspicion of gang-rape.”
