On Friday, 9th August, in a spine chilling incident, the semi-nude body of a 31-year-old female post-graduate trainee was found in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The brutal rape and murder of a doctor, as confirmed by the Kolkata Police Commissioner within the hospital premise, has led to such an outrage that promises not to stop at anything but justice. The postmortem report revealed such details that has shocked everyone to their very core. The prima facie cause of death was “smothering” and “throttling” and the constant struggle against the perpetrator led to several scratch marks on the victim’s body including bleeding from her private part. After days of no significant progress in the investigation by the police authorities, the Calcutta High Court transferred the case to a special CBI team from Delhi on Tuesday. Sanjay Roy, a civic volunteer previously arrested by the police in light of this case, has now been taken into CBI’s custody. The initial protests got fuelled by the casual dismissal of the horrific crime as a suicide by the hospital and police authorities, as communicated with the victim’s parents, and the reappointment of Dr Sandip Ghosh hours after he resigned as a principal of the RG Kar Medical College. In response, resident doctors across all government hospitals in West Bengal, have decided to go on an infinite strike boycotting both emergency and non-emergency services. However, the once peaceful protests to bring about reforms in women's safety turned violent on the eve of independence, as certain unidentified miscreants not only infiltrated the mob and attacked the protestors, including doctors, but also managed to vandalise the hospital property, nearly damaging it. Such an act lends further truth to the allegations of evidence tampering owing to the construction work being done right near the seminar hall where the body of the victim was found. This incident has profound implications where, on the one hand, we have an atrocious crime being committed against a woman and on the other hand, those protesting against the crime have to forsake their safety to do it.
The nature of the crime has made it inevitable that the protests will not just be limited to West Bengal. In solidarity with the nationwide shutdown of Outpatient Department (OPD) services announced by the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), the Central MARD (Maharashtra State Association of Resident Doctors) has called for the discontinuation of elective services in hospitals across Maharashtra. Similar has been the case in the national capital, where the decision of the resident doctors at AIIMS Delhi to join the protests has incapacitated the healthcare services. Offering some relief to the patients seeking medical care, the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) has decided to call off its strike following a meeting with the Union Health Minister, JP Nadda. No state, however, remains immune to the outrage, with doctors from Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan to Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh demanding a time-bound investigation and refusing to perform their duties until their demands are met. These demands are not something out of the ordinary. Time and again, voices have been raised to ratify the Center Healthcare Protection Act and enact a Central Protection Law to protect doctors from being placed in vulnerable positions by deterring acts of violence being committed against them. Though such laws are in place in certain states, there needs to be a central law to maintain their value. Further, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), in a letter addressed to the health ministry, has demanded that hospitals be declared as safe zones and the deployment of adequate security personnel in all major government hospitals. The absence of CCTV cameras in sensitive points of the hospital, the unauthorised entry owing to insufficient security measures, and the lack of restrooms have plagued several hospitals, making such terrible crimes possible. As violence against doctors has been on the rise recently without any sort of permanent remedy in place, the government authorities should, without any delay, make efforts to meet the demands, as systematic failures can no longer excuse such heinous offences.
Although the demands put forward are entirely justified, continuing such means to attain these demands has severe repercussions for the healthcare sector. Without a near end to these strikes, the chaos promises not to be resolved, and the patients continue to wait in long queues as the doctors immerse themselves in the much-needed fight for policy changes. The demands of millions seeking instant justice by hanging the accused compels a broader inspection of the problem- Our country cannot progress if the concerns regarding doctors’ and women’s safety are to be put in the backseat. 16 Aug 2024
Paridhi Minda
