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‘Incidents every day’: India’s doctors rue lack of safety, rest areas after rape-murder case

  • Doctors feel increasingly jittery but say any official safety concerns are superficial and raised only when a major incident occurs

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‘I hope he gets the harshest punishment’: father of murdered Indian doctor demands justice

‘I hope he gets the harshest punishment’: father of murdered Indian doctor demands justice
Biman Mukherji
When trainee doctor Aditi Ghosh (not her real name) goes for her evening rounds at a state-run hospital in India’s eastern state of West Bengal, her mother and sister call her phone throughout the night to check on her safety. Ever since a 31-year-old trainee doctor was raped and murdered inside a Kolkata hospital earlier this month, they worry about her safety constantly.

“Many times I am unable to take their call because I am attending to patients. My mother gets really upset and has often asked me to quit the job,” she said, adding that security for trainee doctors had barely improved despite outrage among the medical fraternity.

Anger over the Kolkata doctor’s death led to a week-long national strike by the Indian Medical Association, which officially concluded on Sunday, as well as widespread protests.

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Some doctors have remained away from duty, but it is hard to stay away from work for long, especially for those working in private hospitals, medical professionals say.

Resigning from her position before the end of a mandatory three-year-traineeship programme would require Ghosh to pay a sum of 3 million rupees (US$35,800) to compensate for her state-subsidised medical college education, which her family can ill afford.

Doctors in Delhi shout slogans during a protest on Monday demanding justice following the rape and murder in Kolkata. Photo: Reuters
Doctors in Delhi shout slogans during a protest on Monday demanding justice following the rape and murder in Kolkata. Photo: Reuters

But her mother is now willing to pay the sum because the 24- to 36-hour work days that she regularly puts in are likely no different from the workload of the trainee doctor whose body was discovered in the seminar room of Kolkata’s R G Kar Medical College.

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