Doctors across India refuse to eat in solidarity with protest over Kolkata rape and murder
Junior doctors in West Bengal have been on a fast unto death for 11 days
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Thousands of doctors in India on Tuesday joined a hunger strike by junior health workers to protest the rape and murder of a colleague in August.
Junior doctors in West Bengal went on a hunger strike on 5 October after nearly 50 days of a “cease work” strike calling for justice for the victim and better safety for doctors. The hunger strike became a fast unto death 11 days ago after a meeting with the state government failed to resolve the deadlock.
The West Bengal Junior Doctors Association had launched street protests after a female trainee doctor was found dead at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on 9 August. An autopsy confirmed she had been sexually assaulted.
This month, the association put 10 demands to the state’s government to end their protests. The government reportedly agreed to seven of them.
"For the remaining three demands, they were requesting specific timelines. These are administrative decisions that the state needs to consider, so we cannot provide a deadline at this point," West Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant said.
The Indian Medical Association, which claims to represent about 350,000 doctors in the country, said it organised Tuesday’s fast in solidarity with health workers in West Bengal.
“The young resident doctors of Kolkata are on a fast unto Death," it said in a statement, adding that five of them had been removed to intensive care after their health deteriorated.
At least seven junior doctors continued their hunger strike at the Esplanade in the centre of the city.
The "basic issue remains the safety and security of doctors and healthcare workers in the hospitals", the national association said, and "very little changes have happened in the ambiance of hospitals even after the RG Kar issue".
"The voice of the medical fraternity, especially the young resident doctors and the medical students of the nation, should be heard.”
The Central Bureau of Investigation has charged a civil volunteer associated with the Kolkata police with the rape and murder of the trainee doctor.
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