NEW DELHI, Aug 20, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - India's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered
a national task force to examine how to bolster security for health care
workers after the "horrific" rape and murder of a doctor sparked medical
strikes and furious protests.

The discovery of the 31-year-old doctor's bloodied body at a state-run
hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata on August 9 has stoked nationwide
anger at the chronic issue of violence against women.

Doctors' associations from government-run hospitals in many cities across
India have launched multiple strikes that cut non-essential services, with
protests in their second week.

Demonstrators marched through Kolkata on Tuesday, holding up signs demanding
"justice", while the country's top court issued orders in the capital New
Delhi.

"The brutality of the sexual assault and the nature of the crime have shocked
the conscience of the nation," the three-judge bench said in its order,
calling the details "horrific".

Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud read out the order, which called for the
formation of a "national task force" of top doctors to prepare a plan to
prevent violence in healthcare facilities and draw up an "enforceable
national protocol" for safe working conditions.

"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.

"With few or no protective systems to ensure their safety, medical
professionals have become vulnerable to violence", it added.

"Lack of security personnel in medical care units is more of a norm than an
exception."

The murdered doctor was found in the teaching hospital's seminar hall,
suggesting she had gone there for a break during a 36-hour-long shift.

An autopsy confirmed she had been sexually assaulted and, in a petition to
the Kolkata High Court, her parents said they suspected their daughter was
gang raped.

Many of the protests have been led by doctors and other health care workers
but have also been joined by tens of thousands of ordinary Indians demanding
action.

"As more and more women join the work force in cutting edge areas of
knowledge and science, the nation has a vital stake in ensuring safe and
dignified conditions of work," the court said.

"The nation cannot await a rape or murder for real changes on the ground", it
added.