Indian doctors call nationwide strike over rape and murder of Kolkata medic
Al Jazeera
Hospitals to suspend non-essential services and medical procedures on Saturday as public fury over brutal attack grows.
Indian doctors have called for a nationwide shutdown of hospital services as public fury over the rape and murder of a trainee medic in the eastern city of Kolkata last week grows.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA), the country’s largest grouping of medics, said the 24-hour shutdown would be implemented on Saturday, affecting most hospital departments except for essential services.
The shutdown comes after thousands of people took to the streets in several cities to express their outrage at the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor, whose brutalised body was found on August 9 at Kolkata’s state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
“Doctors, especially women are vulnerable to violence because of the nature of the profession. It is for the authorities to provide for the safety of doctors inside hospitals and campuses,” the IMA said in a statement issued on Thursday on X .
