Rape-murder case: Protests intensify; medics seek justice for victim, law to protect health workers

New Delhi: The government on Friday said heads of health institutions will have to file an FIR within six hours in case of an incident of violence against a healthcare worker on duty, amid escalating protests across the country over the alleged rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor at a state-run hospital in Kolkata.

Following a call by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) for a 24-hour nationwide withdrawal of non-emergency and OPD services, more medics from public as well as private health facilities joined protests against last week's incident at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, demanding justice for the victim and a central law to protect healthcare workers.

In Delhi, non-emergency and out-patient department (OPD) services remained hit for the fifth day in major hospitals, including AIIMS and Safdarjung, while a group of medics held a sit-in outside the Nirman Bhawan, which houses the Union health ministry.

Protest marches were taken out by resident doctors in several cities, including those in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat, while in Kolkata, police have arrested 25 people in connection with the Thursday early morning vandalism and violence at the hospital where students are demonstrating since August 9 following the alleged rape and murder incident.

Stating that the decision of the health ministry to form a panel for deliberating on a central law to protect healthcare workers as "too little and too late", IMA chief Dr R V Asokan told PTI that there is a draft Bill that was prepared in 2019 after stakeholders' consultation but it never went to Parliament. It just needs political will to bring a legislation on the matter, he said.

In an office memorandum to directors and medical superintendents of central government hospitals and principals of all medical colleges, the ministry said, "It is stated that in the event of any violence against any healthcare worker while on duty, the head of institutions shall be responsible for filing an institutional FIR within a maximum of 6 hours of the incident." Recently, it has been observed that violence has become common against doctors and other healthcare staff in government hospitals, the memo said.

The political slugfest over the incident continued on Friday.

While West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee accused the opposition CPI(M) and the BJP in the state of orchestrating the vandalism at the hospital and attempting to obscure the truth by spreading fake news, the BJP demanded her resignation and accused her of undermining the core values of the Constitution.

In Jharkhand, where doctors at the state's five major medical colleges have struck work, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma lashed out Banerjee, asking her to "stop indulging in politics" over the rape and murder case -- transferred from the Kolkata Police to the CBI on Calcutta High Court orders.

Banerjee has urged the CBI to resolve the case by Sunday and demanded that the culprits be hanged.

"We want the truth to come out, but some quarters are spreading lies to mislead people," she said while addressing a rally. The TMC chief also said that attempts are being made "to hide the truth by circulating fake news on social media".

Hundreds of resident doctors struck work at government hospitals in Madhya Pradesh, including at the AIIMS-Bhopal, in Mumbai more medics joined demonstrations following the IMA's call, and in Gujarat, nearly 4,000 resident doctors went on an indefinite strike. In Punjab, the state civil medical services association has suspended OPD at public health-care centres, while doctors at the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital held daylong strike against the incident in Kolkata.

The Calcutta High Court described the vandalism at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital as an "absolute failure of state machinery," while the victim doctor's parents told the CBI that a few interns and physicians of the reputed medical facility were allegedly involved in her rape and murder.

Kolkata Police has arrested 25 people for their alleged involvement in the vandalism, with Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal admitting that, despite adequate security, they were unprepared for the violence and were caught off-guard.