Indian doctors call for nationwide shutdown after brutal medic rape

Anger over the brutal rape and murder of a doctor in eastern India showed no signs of dying down on Friday, as medics called for the largest shutdown of hospital services in recent times, and political parties geared up for protests.

A 31-year old trainee doctor was raped and murdered last week inside a medical college in the eastern city of Kolkata where she worked, triggering nationwide protests among doctors and drawing parallels to the notorious gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi in 2012.

Late on Thursday, the Indian Medical Association, the country’s largest grouping of medics, said it would implement a nationwide shutdown of most departments, except essential services, for 24 hours from Saturday morning, the largest such strike in at least a decade.

“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 X late on Thursday night.

Political parties, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is in opposition in West Bengal, of which Kolkata is capital, said they will hold protests in the city on Friday.

Bollywood actors, other celebrities and politicians have voiced shock at the crime, calling for stricter punishments for perpetrators of crimes against women.

A police volunteer who worked at the hospital has been arrested and charged with the crime.

Doctors say the circumstances of the rape point to the vulnerability of medics left without proper protection and facilities.

The government brought in sweeping changes to the criminal justice system, including tougher sentences, after the Delhi gang-rape, but campaigners say little has changed despite the tougher laws.