‘Abuse every day’: India’s female medical staff speak out after doctor’s rape and murder

BENGALURU - Saving lives was a childhood dream for 28-year-old Indian doctor Radhika, but after the brutal rape and murder of a colleague, her own safety has increasingly become a concern.

Earlier in August, the battered and bloodied body of a 31-year-old woman doctor was found at the government-run hospital where she worked in the eastern city of Kolkata, sparking outrage.

One man has been detained, but the attack has focused anger on the lack of measures for female doctors to work without fear

and triggered protests and strikes by medical workers.

“I was on night duty just two days before this incident,” Dr Radhika said at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

“What she did is what any of us do – resting whenever, wherever we can.”

The murdered doctor – who has not been formally named but is being called “Abhaya”, or “fearless”, by protesters – was found in the teaching hospital’s seminar hall, suggesting she had gone there for a break during a long shift.

Dr Radhika, whose name has been changed for fear of repercussions at her workplace, said conditions such as long working hours – with barely any time to eat or rest – were not unusual.

“This could have been any of us, and this still can be any of us,” she added.

Tens of thousands of ordinary Indians have joined protests, channelling anger not only at the chronic issue of violence against women but also at the failure to provide secure working conditions for them.

According to philanthropic organisation Dasra, women make up nearly 30 per cent of doctors in India and 80 per cent of nursing staff.

Attacks on female medical staff are all too common.

On Aug 20, the country’s Supreme Court ordered a national task force to examine how to bolster security for healthcare workers, saying the brutality of the killing had “shocked the conscience of the nation”.

“The lack of institutional safety norms at medical establishments, against both violence and sexual violence against medical professionals, is a matter of serious concern,” the court order read.

It highlighted a lack of CCTV cameras and a failure to screen visitors to hospitals for weapons.

Medical superintendent Indira Kabade, who works at KC General Hospital in the southern city of Bengaluru, said she worries about her staff getting home safely after work.

“We never know if anyone is following them from the hospital,” she said, adding that she and many female colleagues want “airport-like security”, including police officers posted on campus.

“Despite us working non-stop to save lives, there is a need to rethink safety at the workplace,” she said.

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

Nearly 90 rapes a day were reported in 2022 in the country of 1.4 billion people.

Exhausted doctors sleep where they can, snatching rest on a chair or the floor.

“They are just completely tired, and their bodies cannot push anymore,” Dr Radhika said.

There are restrooms for doctors – but men and women have to share, and some rooms have no lock.

She described one moment of terror when two men barged into the room while she was resting.

“I was really scared,” she said.

Foul sanitation – including often only one toilet for male and female medical staff – illustrates a failure by the authorities to provide basic infrastructure.

The situation is particularly worrying when the women are menstruating, Dr Radhika said.

In the Himalayan territory of Kashmir, doctor Rubeena Bhat said some medical staff would rather use washrooms in houses neighbouring the hospital. “It’s that bad,” she said.

One female doctor in Thiruvananthapuram, a city in the southern state of Kerala, said she and her colleagues face abuse every day, from verbal insults to physical molestation. “There is no end to it,” she said.

Female doctors have been encouraged to participate in self-defence classes organised by the medical association.

“Doctors are called gods or angels by some people,” the Kerala-based doctor said.

“So we think we are immune to crimes. And when such a crime happens at a place which we consider the safest place, we are all afraid.”

But while questions remain over her safety, Dr Radhika is certain of her future. “I will fight and continue to be in the healthcare service,” she said. AFP