KOLKATA, Aug 16 (AFP/APP): Thousands of Indians marched through the streets of Kolkata on Friday demanding justice after the rape and murder of a doctor, channelling nationwide outrage at the chronic issue of violence against women.
Alongside the fury of ordinary Indians, doctors stepped up their demonstrations and strikes on Friday, with protests also held in the capital New Delhi, and other cities over the brutal killing.
The discovery of the 31-year-old’s bloodied body on August 9 at a state-run hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata sparked nationwide protests.
“We want justice,” doctors chanted during the protests in Kolkata, waving handwritten signs that read: “No safety, no service!”
Protester Sumita Datta, 59, said she was disgusted that such a brazen and violent attack could have been carried out “in a well-known hospital in the heart of the city”.
“So many people are out here to take part in the protests,” Datta added. “It feels like hope is being reignited.”
Those in government hospitals across several states on Monday halted elective services “indefinitely” in protest.
Multiple medical unions in both government and private systems have backed the strikes.
“We are intensifying our protests… to demand justice for our colleague,” Suvrankar Datta said Friday at the government-run All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in New Delhi.
The Indian Medical Association has called for a “nationwide withdrawal of services” for 24 hours starting Saturday, with suspension of all non-essential procedures at private hospitals.
Doctors are demanding the implementation of the Central Protection Act, a bill to protect healthcare workers from violence.
Members of the wider public have also marched in several cities this week, including at a candlelight midnight rally in Kolkata that coincided with the start of India’s Independence Day celebrations on Thursday.
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