Indian doctors demand tougher laws after a colleague was raped and killed at a hospital
Hundreds of doctors are protesting near India's Health Ministry to demand stringent laws to protect health care workers from violence and to seek justice for their colleague who was raped and killed at a state-run hospital
NEW DELHI (AP) — Hundreds of doctors protested near India's Health Ministry on Monday to demand stringent laws to protect health care workers from violence and to seek justice for their colleague who was raped and killed at a state-run hospital.
The protesting doctors, holding up placards like “Justice delayed is justice denied,” were stopped by police as they tried to set up free outpatient services outside the ministry in New Delhi.
Doctors and medics across India have held protests, candlelight marches and temporarily refused care for non-emergency patients after the rape and killing of the 31-year-old trainee on Aug. 9 in the eastern city of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state.
The doctors say the assault highlights the vulnerability of health care workers in hospitals and medical campuses across India. They are demanding stronger laws, including making any attack on on-duty medics an offense without the possibility of bail, increase in security at hospitals and safe spaces for them to rest.
