India's Supreme Court sets up a task force for workplace safety after rape and murder of a doctor

NEW DELHI — India's Supreme Court set up a national task force of doctors on Tuesday to make recommendations on the safety of healthcare workers in their workplaces. Just days earlier, the rape and murder of a junior doctor sparked outrage and nationwide protests.

The Supreme Court said the medical board would formulate guidelines to ensure the safety and protection of medical and healthcare workers across the country.

“Protecting the safety of doctors is a matter of national interest and a principle of equality. The nation cannot wait for another rape to occur before taking action,” said Chief Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud.

Since the August 9 killing in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, capital of West Bengal state, doctors and paramedics across India have held protest rallies and candlelight marches and even temporarily refused to treat non-emergency patients. Doctors say the attack shows the vulnerability of health workers in hospitals and medical facilities across India.

The court also ordered the federal agency investigating the murder to submit a report on the status of its investigation on Thursday. A volunteer police officer has been arrested and charged with the crime, but the victim's family claims it was a gang rape and that several people were involved.

The suspension of the doctors has affected thousands of patients across India. They are demanding stricter laws to protect them from violence, including making any attack on doctors on duty a criminal offence and denying the possibility of bail.

The rape and murder of the 31-year-old junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata has also focused anger on the chronic problem of violence against women.

Thousands of people, mostly women, have taken to the streets in Kolkata and other Indian cities demanding justice for the doctor, saying women in India continue to face increasing violence despite strict laws introduced after 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 punishments 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.