Key Indian hospital ends strike but doctor rape protests rage

NEW DELHI — Doctors at a top Indian government hospital ended Thursday an 11-day strike in protest against the rape and murder of a doctor, but furious demonstrations continued in Kolkata.

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 launched strikes that cut non-essential services.

Tens of thousands of ordinary Indians have joined protests, channelling anger not only at the chronic issue of violence against women, but also at the failure to provide secure working conditions for them.

An average of nearly 90 rapes a day were reported in 2022 in the country of 1.4 billion people.

Armed police on Thursday guarded the walls of the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, where the doctor was murdered.

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

One man, who worked at the hospital helping people navigate busy queues, has been detained.

Demonstrators have given the murdered doctor the nickname "Abhaya", meaning "fearless".

'Shocked the conscience' 

Protests in Kolkata have spiralled into political rallies, with police scuffling with demonstrators from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) angry at the state government.

The Hindu-nationalist BJP is the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but are an opposition party in West Bengal state.

But medics at the leading state hospital in the capital New Delhi said Thursday they would return to full duties, hours after an appeal by the Supreme Court to do so.

India's Supreme Court ordered on Tuesday a national task force to examine how to bolster security for healthcare workers, saying the brutality of the killing had "shocked the conscience of the nation".

The top court appealed on Thursday for doctors to return to work.

"We are resuming duties following the Supreme Court's appeal and assurances," the Resident Doctors Association at New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said in a statement.

Doctors said they had ended their strike "in the interest of the nation and the spirit of public service".

They also urged the authorities to "adhere to the directives" of the Supreme Court, adding that their protests would continue after duty hours "until justice is served".