Indian doctors demand stricter laws after a colleague was raped and killed in a hospital

NEW DELHI (AP) — Hundreds of doctors protested near India's health ministry on Monday, demanding strict laws to protect their health workers from violence and justice for their colleague who was raped and killed in a government hospital.

The protesting doctors, holding placards reading “Justice delayed is justice denied”, were stopped by police as they attempted to set up free outpatient services for patients outside the Health Ministry in New Delhi, part of demonstrations and rallies that have been going on for over a week.

Following the rape and murder of the 31-year-old junior doctor on August 9 in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state, doctors and paramedics across India have held protest rallies and candlelight marches and temporarily refused to treat non-urgent patients.

The protesting doctors say the attack shows the vulnerability of medical and nursing staff in hospitals and clinics across India. They are demanding stricter laws to protect them from violence, including making any attack on medical staff on duty a criminal offence and denying the possibility of bail. They also want to increase security measures in hospitals and create safe rest rooms for the medical staff.

The government called on doctors to return to work and announced the establishment of a committee to examine their demands.

The rape and murder of the trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Calcutta drew attention to the chronic problem of violence against women and sparked protests across India.

A police officer working at the hospital was arrested and charged with the crime. However, the victim's family claims it was a gang rape and that several people were involved. The case is being handled by federal investigators.

Thousands of people, especially women, also demonstrated in the streets of Calcutta and demanded justice for the doctor. Her murder clearly shows that women in India continue to face increasing violence despite strict laws, especially since the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in Delhi in 2012.

This attack prompted lawmakers to impose harsher penalties for such crimes and set up fast-track courts for rape cases. The government also introduced the death penalty for repeat offenders.

Despite stricter laws, sexual violence against women remains a widespread problem in India.

In 2022, police recorded 31,516 rape reports, according to the National Crime Records Bureau – a 20% increase from 2021.