Doctors in India defy court order, continue a weeks-long strike

The 31-year-old trainee doctor was raped and murdered in early August inside the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in West Bengal’s capital, Kolkata, where she worked.

A police volunteer also working at the hospital has been charged with the murder and arrested, but the case has since triggered daily demonstrations by medics calling for greater protection and workplace safety.

On Monday, the Supreme Court, which took up the matter in the wake of nationwide outrage over the incident, ordered the protesting doctors to return to work by 5 p.m. the next day and the state’s authorities to ensure the safety and security of doctors in hospitals.

The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front, which represents about 7,000 physicians in the state, said it would follow the court’s order only if their safety demands were met by the state.

“The Supreme Court has said that the state can take action after 5 p.m., if they want to. At the same time, the Supreme Court has also asked the state to increase the security measures which has not been done at all,” Dr. Anustup Pal, the association’s member, told Arab News, as protesters gathered in front of the state’s health department to demand the resignation of its key leadership.

“We will continue till the demand is met,” Pal said. “We are unhappy at the representation done by the state at the Supreme Court.”

The protest is supported by the West Bengal chapter of the Indian Medical Association — the country’s top physicians’ body — which issued a statement after the court’s order, saying that no steps were being taken to deliver justice after the brutal murder and that the protest “will not die down.”

Dr. Sourav Datta, member of the association’s central committee, told Arab News that “almost no demand” from the protesting doctors had been fulfilled so far.

“Whatever decision they will take, the IMA will unconditionally give support to them,” he said. “The IMA will be with them.”