The Indian Medical Association (IMA) announced on Thursday night that there will be a nationwide withdrawal of services on August 17 for 24 hours, in protest against the rape and murder of the trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, as well as the “hooliganism unleashed on the protesting doctors on the eve of Independence Day.” According to the statement released by the medical body, services provided by doctors of modern medicine will be unavailable from “6 am on August 17 to 6 am on August 18,” with the exception of essential services.
“After the brutal crime in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata and the hooliganism unleashed on the protesting students on the eve of Independence Day, the Indian Medical Association declares nationwide withdrawal of services by doctors of modern medicine from 6 am on Saturday i.e 17th of August to 6 am Sunday 18th of August, for 24 hours. All essential services will be maintained. Casualties will be manned. Routine OPDs will not function and elective surgeries will not be conducted. The withdrawal is across all sectors where modern medicine doctors are providing service. IMA requires the sympathy of the nation with the just cause of its doctors,” IMA's press release, according to ANI, read.
On August 9, a post-graduate trainee doctor was discovered dead in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. A civic volunteer was arrested the day after the crime.
{{/usCountry}}On August 9, a post-graduate trainee doctor was discovered dead in the seminar hall of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. A civic volunteer was arrested the day after the crime.
{{/usCountry}}In connection with the rape and murder of the trainee, the special crime branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Kolkata summoned five doctors for questioning on Thursday. The crime branch also interrogated the officer-in-charge of Tala police station, which oversees the area where the incident occurred.
What happened during ‘Reclaim the Night’ protest?
The vandalism occurred during widespread protests by women across the state as part of the “Reclaim the Night” campaign in West Bengal on midnight of Wednesday, which was sparked by the horrific incident involving the deceased doctor.
Around 12.40 am, a large group of unidentified men stormed the hospital amid the ongoing agitation by junior doctors. The attackers vandalised the emergency department, nursing station, and medicine stores, even damaging CCTV cameras and ransacking the stage where junior doctors had been demonstrating since August 9.
To disperse the mob, police resorted to a lathi charge and fired tear gas shells. Nine people have been detained for their alleged involvement in the incident. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said those responsible for RG Kar Hospital's vandalism were not connected to the student movement.