Doctors hold candles during a protest rally demanding justice following the rape and murder of a trainee medic at a hospital in Kolkata, in New Delhi, India, Aug 18, 2024. – Reuters
NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court will begin hearings this week into the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor in the eastern city of Kolkata, which has sparked protests and a nationwide strike by doctors.
The country’s highest court said it will hear the matter using its "suo motu” powers, which allows it to hold proceedings under its own mission and without a petition being filed.
The court’s move followed the alleged rape and murder of a 31-year-old graduate trainee on Aug 9 on the premises of a government hospital in Kolkata. Junior doctors and medical students in the city have held almost nightly vigils since then, and the country’s main doctors group called a nationwide strike over the weekend calling for justice for the victim and better security for medical workers.
The court didn’t provide details of who will be questioned during the hearings, but protesters allege the initial investigation was mishandled by local police. The federal Central Bureau of Investigation has since taken over the case.
Private and government hospitals in parts of the country shut down non-essential services for a 24-hour strike on Aug 17. Major hospitals in Delhi, like Fortis and Apollo, joined the protest and provided only essential services, according to local media reports. Medical services continue to be disrupted in Kolkata as protests on the streets and outside hospitals grow.
The Indian Medical Association wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling for the government to declare "hospitals as safe zones with mandatory security entitlements,” such as airports. In his Independence Day speech last week, Modi called for stronger punishment against those who commit sexual crimes, although he didn’t directly refer to the Kolkata case.
Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal where Kolkata is based, has faced criticism from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party for her government’s handling of the investigation. She’s blamed political parties of "trying to foment trouble” by instigating vandalism at the hospital where the alleged rape and murder took place.
The case has drawn parallels with the gang-rape and death of a student in Delhi in 2012, which drew global attention to India’s high levels of sexual violence. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, a total of 31,516 cases of rape were registered in 2022. – Bloomberg
