Thousands of doctors in India are continuing to refuse treatment to non-emergency patients following a nationwide strike Saturday in protest of the brutal rape and murder of a medical student while she was resting at the end of a work shift.
Healthcare workers have demanded that the government address what they say is a significant lack of security at the country’s public hospitals that results in frequent acts of violence and harassment against caregivers.
The latest incident involves the sexual assault and strangulation of a 31-year-old postgraduate who was sleeping in a seminar hall at the R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata before she was allegedly attacked by a suspect identified by investigators as a police volunteer.
In response to the civil unrest, officials in New Delhi have pledged to form a committee to investigate ways to enhance the safety of the nation’s medical professionals, while urging the demonstrators to return to their jobs.
Activists contend that the victim’s death underscores ongoing societal issues that women in the world’s largest country still face, despite attempts over the past decade to implement stronger laws against sexual violence.
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