India's doctors strike in protest against rape and murder of doctor in Calcutta

Hospitals and clinics across India turned away patients except for emergency cases on Saturday as medical staff initiated a 24-hour shutdown in protest against the brutal rape and murder of a doctor in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata.

More than a million doctors are expected to join the strike, paralyzing medical services in the world's most populous country. Hospitals said teaching staff from medical schools had been deployed for emergency cases.

In a statement released on Saturday after a meeting with representatives of medical associations, the government called on doctors to resume their duties in the public interest.

A 31-year-old doctor-in-training was raped and killed on August 9 in the medical college where she was working in Kolkata, sparking nationwide protests among doctors and drawing parallels with the infamous gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi in 2012.

The strike has disrupted access to planned medical procedures and outpatient consultations, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) said in a statement.

WATCH HERE | India's doctors demand justice for rape and murder of intern:

India's doctors stage mass protests after murder of intern

Doctors across India protested by restricting non-emergency medical care, demanding better protection for health workers, after a junior doctor was raped and killed at work.

“All junior doctors have gone on strike. That would mean 90 percent of doctors are on strike,” Sanjeev Singh Yadav, an IMA representative in the southern state of Telangana, told Reuters.

According to news agency ANI, there was a heavy police presence outside the RG Kar Medical College, where the crime took place, on Saturday, while the hospital premises were deserted.

Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal, which includes Kolkata, supported the nationwide protests and called for an expedited investigation and the strictest possible punishment for those responsible.

In Kolkata, numerous private clinics and diagnostic centers remained closed on Saturday.

Dr. Sandip Saha, a private pediatrician in the city, told Reuters he would only see patients in emergency cases.

Hospitals and clinics in Lucknow in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Ahmedabad in the Indian state of Gujarat, Guwahati in the Indian state of Assam and Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, as well as other cities, joined the strike, which is expected to be one of the largest hospital closures in recent history.

Patients lined up outside hospitals. Some of them did not know that they would not receive medical care because of the unrest.

“I spent 500 rupees ($8 Canadian) to come here. I am paralyzed and have a burning sensation in my feet, head and other parts of my body,” an unidentified patient at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in the city of Cuttack in Odisha state told local television.

“We didn't know about the strike. What can we do? We have to go back home.”

Raghunath Sahu, 45, who was reported to the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, told Reuters that a daily quota set by doctors to treat patients had expired before noon.

“I have brought my sick grandmother. She has not been seen today. I have to wait another day and then try again,” said Sahu as he walked away from the queue.

India's Central Bureau of Investigation, the agency in charge of investigating the rape and killing, has summoned a number of medical students from RG Kar Medical College to ascertain the circumstances of the crime, according to a police source in Kolkata.

Agency investigators also questioned the hospital director on Friday, the source said.

Suspect in custody

The questioning continued on Saturday, local television stations reported. One suspect is in agency custody.

Following the Delhi gang rape, the Indian government introduced sweeping changes to the criminal justice system, including harsher punishments, but activists say little has changed.

Anger that stricter laws have failed to stop growing violence against women has fueled protests by doctors and women's groups.

“Women make up the majority of our profession in this country. We have repeatedly asked for their safety,” IMA President Dr. RV Asokan told Reuters on Friday.

Calls for tough, swift punishments

The IMA called for further legal measures to better protect health workers from violence and a speedy investigation into the “barbaric” crime in Kolkata.

“The punishment should be as harsh as possible and delivered more quickly so that it stays in the public's memory,” says experienced criminal defense attorney Shobha Gupta, who represented a Muslim woman who was gang raped during religious unrest in the western state of Gujarat in 2002.

“If we are still angry about the crime, the result should come out. Punishment should play a deterrent role and be faster.”

The government statement said a committee would be set up to propose measures to further improve the protection of health workers.