Indian doctors protest steadfastly against brutal rape and murder of a doctor

Thousands of junior doctors in India continued their protests on Monday following the brutal rape and murder of a young doctor that led to disruptions in hospital operations for nearly a week.

Following the horrific incident on August 9 in which a 31-year-old medical student was raped and murdered in a Kolkata hospital, doctors across the country launched a nationwide campaign to demand safer workplaces and swift criminal justice action.

A volunteer police officer was arrested and charged with the crime.

Accordingly ReutersWomen's rights activists said the incident highlighted that women in India continue to suffer sexual violence despite stricter laws introduced after the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi in 2012.

The government has called on doctors to return to work and is setting up a committee to propose measures to better protect medical staff.

“Our indefinite work stoppage and sit-in will continue until our demands are met,” said Dr Aniket Mahata, a spokesman for the protesting junior doctors at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where the incident occurred.

In solidarity with the doctors, thousands of supporters of the two largest football clubs in the state of West Bengal marched through the streets of Calcutta on Sunday evening, shouting “We want justice”.

Groups representing junior doctors in the neighboring state of Odisha, the capital New Delhi and the western state of Gujarat also announced they would continue their protests.