India’s top court orders protesting doctors to resume work by Sept 10
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Hundred of doctors have stayed off work as they demand justice for the rape and murder of a female medic in August.
PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW DELHI – India’s Supreme Court ordered all doctors protesting against the August rape and murder of a female medic to resume work by Sept 10, warning they may face “adverse action” if they failed to adhere to the deadline.
Hundreds of doctors nationwide have stayed off work as they demand justice for the woman, whose body was found on Aug 9 in a classroom at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, in the eastern state of West Bengal, where she was a trainee.
A police volunteer was arrested for the crime, and federal police said last week that the college’s former principal was also arrested for alleged graft.
Doctors have also been demanding better amenities in government-run hospitals, which they say lack security and basic infrastructure such as resting spaces for staff.
The Supreme Court on Sept 9 said that no adverse action would be taken against doctors who returned to work by the evening of Sept 10.
“The resident doctors cannot be oblivious to the needs of the general community whom they are intended to serve,” said Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud, heading a three-judge bench of the court.
The court also directed the West Bengal government to take steps to assure doctors of their concerns being addressed, including by providing separate duty rooms and toilets for male and female personnel and installing CCTV cameras.
Demonstrations over the attack spread beyond India’s borders over the weekend, as thousands of diaspora Indians protested in more than 130 cities across 25 countries, including Japan, Australia, Europe and the US.
The court, which took up the matter of its own accord following outrage over the incident, earlier formed a hospital safety task force to recommend steps to ensure the safety of medical workers.
Women’s rights activists say the incident has highlighted how women continue to face sexual violence in India, despite tougher laws being introduced after the 2012 gang rape and murder of a woman in a moving bus in Delhi. REUTERS
