KOLKATA, Sept 20 (Askume) – Striking junior doctors in the Indian state of West Bengal have agreed to allow basic services to resume and medical facilities to partially reopen, but they remain deeply concerned about the rape and murder of a colleague a month ago . They will continue our work .
The rape and murder of a 31-year-old female doctor in West Bengal in August sparked a wave of protests by doctors demanding greater workplace safety for women and justice for their dead colleagues, following which the Supreme Court of India created the hospital safety mandate power .
The West Bengal Junior Doctors Front, which represents around 7,000 doctors in the state, said in a statement on Thursday that junior doctors will resume basic duties from Saturday.
Aniket Mahato of West Bengal Junior Doctors Front said, “The movement for justice will continue in every government hospital, but due to floods in some parts of the state, we have decided to resume basic services in hospitals.”
The doctors have demanded better security, including increased CCTV coverage, deployment of women security personnel, adequate lighting, toilets and rest areas.
An RG police volunteer in Kolkata has been arrested for allegedly raping and murdering a doctor at the Medical College and Hospital yesterday, the former principal of the college has been arrested on suspicion of tampering with evidence and corruption , and the police chief of the capital Kolkata has been arrested.
Though stricter laws were enacted following the horrific gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in the national capital New Delhi in 2012, activists say the Kolkata case shows how women continue to be subjected to sexual violence in the country.
