“We want justice, we want justice” echoes through the streets of the Indian capital.
Hundreds of doctors and medical staff were protesting on the streets of Delhi this weekend against the brutal rape and murder of their colleague.
It is an unprecedented campaign that has resulted in a 24-hour strike at all government hospitals.
They were also being joined in solidarity by private practitioners across the country.
The Indian Medical Association, which has more than 1,700 branches and a membership of 350,000 doctors, called for the strike from 6am on Saturday to the same time on Sunday.
It is the biggest industrial action by Indian doctors in a decade and means all services apart from emergency care are being left unmanned.
Numbers involved are reported to be around a million.
Dr Smita Malhotra, a paediatrician at the protest in Delhi, told Sky News: “This incident is reflective of the rot in our society, of the disrespect that there is towards women and towards the profession itself. The attacks on doctors are increasing day by day and they are getting worse.”
The brutality of the crime has shaken everyone here.
On 9 August, a female doctor was resting after a long shift at the RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata. The following morning her body was found mutilated, sexually assaulted and murdered.
Her mother was the last to speak to her at 11.15pm. When she tried calling her in the morning, she didn’t pick up.
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Doctors at the hospital began calling for a proper investigation and a few nights later the hospital was vandalised. Some doctors at a vigil were beaten up.
The Kolkata High Court intervened when it felt the local police were incompetent in handling the case.
The investigation was given to the Central Bureau of Investigation, a federal agency.
A 31-year-old civil volunteer has since been taken into custody.
‘How can we work when we’re not safe?’
Dr Kumari Acharya, a neurologist at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, told Sky News: “There are atrocities against doctors every day but doctors aren’t usually prepared to protest as we know it will harm our patients.
“But this time everybody has come forward because this was such a grave incident.
“Hospitals are our homes, we spend many hours here and still this is happening to us. How can we serve people if we ourselves are not safe?”
At the Lady Harding Hospital, there was a brief stand-off between doctors and the police.
Officers locked the gates to prevent doctors marching – but following reassurances it would be non-violent, the protesters were finally allowed to enter the cordoned-off street.
Speaking to Sky News, Dr Pankaj Garg, a paediatrician from the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said: “My daughter is working as an intern at Lady Harding medical college.
“She was on night duty three days back, I called her three times during the night to find out if she was okay, that is the type of fear we parents have now.”
The medical associations are demanding a central protection act across the country to provide a thorough overhaul of working conditions and guaranteed safe spaces for resident doctors.
They are also calling for a swift investigation, justice, and family compensation in the latest case.
Dr Garg says: “If we are not safe in our hospitals then this health system will crumble.
“We want a central protection law, the safety of our doctors is paramount. Legislators say this is a health issue, but a doctor’s safety is not a health issue, it’s a fundamental right. The government needs to do its basic duty and responsibility of saving me as a citizen.”
Case reminiscent of 2012 student murder
This case is a sad reminder of the brutal gang rape and murder of a physiotherapy student in Delhi in 2012.
The fury and anger of that incident caused nationwide protests.
New laws were enacted, older ones strengthened, punishments made more severe, and fast-track courts established to try cases of crimes against women. But there seems to be little change on the ground.
The latest figures from the National Crime Records Bureau show the number of rape cases in the country has increased.
In 2022, police recorded 31,516 reports of rape, an increase of 20% on the previous year. That is around 86 rapes a day nationwide. Conviction rates are also low.
Dr Acharya says: “Yesterday after my shift I felt scared to go to my duty room so I stayed in the ward where there were more people.
“We are living in fear. We’re being given a choice of how to die, by disease or by a brutal rape and murder.”
Doctors want protection and a better working environment – but many here have heard this before and expect little to change.
