PROTESTS continued in cities across India today in anger at the killing and rape of a trainee doctor, with medical professionals demanding better and safer working conditions.
Police revealed on Wednesday that the body of the unnamed 31-year-old woman was found last Friday in the eastern city of Kolkata and that a police volunteer had been arrested in connection to the case.
The woman had fallen asleep in a seminar room after a 36-hour shift as there was no designated rest area. Her colleagues discovered her half-naked body, bearing injuries, on the podium.
The case has been handed to federal investigators following a court order.
Thousands of people took to the streets on Wednesday night in mostly peaceful actions, holding candles and posters reading: “Reclaim the night.”
Some men attacked vehicles at the medical college campus where the doctor worked, ransacking patient wards.
Media reports said that several police officers were injured in clashes, during which tear gas was fired.
Government hospitals in several cities have since suspended medical services except for emergency departments as medical professionals join the protests.
Doctors and health workers are calling for more to be done to curb the violence levelled at them by people angered by the poor medical care on offer in India’s crowded and filthy public hospitals.
Devalina Bose, a 27-year-old intern at the Kolkata hospital, told the BBC: “I’m still traumatised by what happened to the victim. I struggle to sleep at night.
“I keep thinking about how, just three weeks back, I had taken a short nap in a room just a few metres away from where the rape and murder happened.
“I was tired that night after being on my feet for hours and I just wanted to take a nap. But the room didn’t have a lock and so I couldn’t bolt the door shut.”
Police in India recorded 31,516 reports of rape in 2022, a 20 per cent increase from 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned violence against women, saying he could feel the public’s outrage.
Rape and sexual violence have been under the spotlight in India since the brutal 2012 gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old student on a moving New Delhi bus.
The attack led to widespread protests and legislative changes — but rights activists say the government is still not doing enough to protect women and punish attackers.
