Protests widen over Indian doctor's rape and murder

Calcutta High Court advocates hold posters during a protest to condemn the rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata on August 19, 2024. [AFP]

Thousands of outraged Indian protesters, including arch-rival football fans and lawyers, called for justice Monday after the rape and murder of a doctor as widespread strikes by healthcare workers entered a second week.

The discovery of the 31-year-old doctor's bloodied body at a state-run hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata on August 9 sparked medical strikes and protests across India, channelling anger at the chronic issue of violence against women.

Doctors' associations from government-run hospitals in many cities across India continued strikes on Monday that cut non-essential services.

"We have forgotten our rivalries to make common cause in calling for justice for the doctor and her family," said Bablu Mukherjee, a supporter of Kolkata's Mohun Bagan soccer team.

"The cause is bigger than our club, even bigger than politics."

The murdered doctor was found in the teaching hospital's seminar hall, suggesting she had gone there for a break during a 36-hour-long shift.

An autopsy confirmed sexual assault and, in a petition to the Kolkata High Court, her parents said they suspected their daughter was gang raped.

In a rare case of unity, fans from Kolkata's usual rivals the East Bengal club marched alongside them in a midnight rally that lasted into the early hours of Monday.

"We are with the doctors," the fans chanted in unison, shrugging off torrential monsoon rains and police seeking to break up the rally. "We want justice."

Many of the protests in multiple cities have been led by doctors and other healthcare workers but have also been joined by tens of thousands of ordinary Indians demanding action.

"It's not just a protest, but a call to humanity,"  said 23-year-old student Sristi Haldar, from Kolkata's Presidency University, who joined the candlelit rally.

"We are angry," she said. "It's about the safety of all women everywhere".

Doctors from the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, where the murder occurred, rallied outside the building on Monday.

"We are determined that we don't give in to pressure to remain silent," said Shreya Shaw, a woman doctor. "The protests will go on until we get justice."

With non-essential medical procedures closed, some of the striking doctors in the capital New Delhi offered to see patients for free outside India's health ministry.

India's Supreme Court has also taken up the case, overseeing the process in Kolkata's High Court, with a hearing set for Tuesday.

One man, who worked at the hospital helping people navigate busy queues, has been detained.

Hundreds of lawyers, mostly women, joined the protests in Kolkata, marching in legal black gowns.

"No mercy to rapists", one banner read.

Doctors have also demanded the implementation of the Central Protection Act, a bill to protect healthcare workers from violence.

The gruesome nature of the attack has invoked comparisons with the horrific 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a Delhi bus.

It has sparked widespread outrage in a country where sexual violence against women is endemic.

Sexual violence against women is a widespread problem in India -- an average of nearly 90 rapes a day were reported in 2022 in the country of 1.4 billion people.

Indian media reported on Monday that five people had been arrested, accused of raping a child at a bus station in northern Uttarakhand state.