NEW DELHI, Aug 16, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Indian doctors said Friday they would
increase nationwide protests and strikes after the rape and murder of a
colleague, a brutal killing that has focused outrage on the chronic issue of
violence against women.

The discovery of the 31-year-old's bloodied and brutalised body on August 9
at a state-run hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata has sparked nationwide
protests.

"We are intensifying our protests... to demand justice for our colleague,"
Suvrankar Datta said Friday, from the government-run All India Institutes of
Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in New Delhi.

Those in government hospitals across several states on Monday halted elective
services "indefinitely" in protest.

Multiple medical unions in both government and private systems have backed
the strike.

Thousands marched through the streets of Kolkata overnight Wednesday to
condemn the killing, with a candlelight rally at midnight coinciding with the
start of India's independence day celebrations.

The Indian Medical Association has called for a "nationwide withdrawal of
services" for 24 hours starting Saturday, with suspension of all non-
essential and medical procedures at private hospitals.

Indian media have reported that the murdered doctor was found in the teaching
hospital's seminar hall, suggesting she had gone there for a brief rest
during a long shift.

An autopsy has confirmed sexual assault, and in a petition to the court, the
victim's parents have said that they suspected their daughter was gang-raped,
according to Indian broadcaster NDTV.

- 'Atrocities' -

Though police have detained a man who worked at the hospital helping people
navigate busy queues, state government officers have been accused of
mishandling the case.

Sexual violence against women is a widespread problem in India -- an average
of nearly 90 rapes a day were reported in 2022 in the country of 1.4 billion
people.

For many, the gruesome nature of the attack has invoked comparisons with the
horrific 2012 gang rape and murder of a young woman on a Delhi bus.

The woman became a symbol of the socially conservative country's failure to
tackle sexual violence against women.

Her death sparked huge, and at times violent, demonstrations in Delhi and
elsewhere.

Under pressure, the government introduced harsher penalties for rapists, and
the death penalty for repeat offenders.

Several new sexual offences were also introduced, including for stalking, and
officials who refuse to register rape complaints can now be jailed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday demanded swift punishment for those
who commit "monstrous" deeds against women,

"There is anger for atrocities committed against our mothers and sisters,"
Modi said.

"Crimes against women should be quickly investigated; monstrous behaviour
against women should be severely and quickly punished."

Doctors have also demanded the implementation of the Central Protection Act,
a bill to protect healthcare workers from violence.