Indian Doctors Strike for One Day Over Sexual Assault and Murder of Resident at National Hospital

Demand for Safety Measures in Training

Protest against the 'Sexual Assault and Murder of Suryun' held in Mumbai, India on the 16th [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Doctors across India went on strike nationwide on the 1st. This was in protest of an incident where a female trainee doctor was sexually assaulted and murdered at a national hospital.

According to foreign media on the 16th (local time), the Indian Medical Association (IMA) issued a statement on the 17th (local time) announcing that doctors in all departments except emergency response units would strike for 24 hours starting from 6 a.m. that day. The IMA is the largest medical organization in India, with about 350,000 members.

This strike was triggered by an incident that occurred on the 9th at a national hospital in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal in eastern India. A 31-year-old female trainee doctor affiliated with the hospital was murdered after stopping by the hospital seminar room to rest following dinner that evening.

Police, through an autopsy, concluded that the victim was sexually assaulted before being killed and arrested one hospital staff member as a suspect. However, the victim’s family has raised the possibility of gang rape.

This incident has drawn comparisons to the gang rape and murder case that occurred in December 2012 in the capital, New Delhi, intensifying public outcry against the authorities.

At that time in New Delhi, a woman was gang-raped and brutally murdered on a bus, sparking outrage not only in India but worldwide.

Following this recent incident, fellow trainee doctors began protest demonstrations and subsequently went on strike, with ordinary citizens also joining in. In Kolkata, thousands held candlelight vigils early that morning, and doctors in the capital New Delhi also staged protests.

Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, supported the protests and strike, demanding a swift investigation and the strongest possible punishment for those responsible from the authorities.