Strike by Indian Doctors for colleague rape and murder

Doctors in India have started a nationwide strike to protest the rape and murder of a female coworker in Kolkata, West Bengal.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA), the country's biggest doctor group, announced that all unnecessary medical services would be closed on Saturday across the country.

The IMA called the killing last week a "barbaric scale crime due to the lack of safe spaces for women" and asked the country to help it in its "struggle for justice."

In the past few days, protests against the attack and calls for better security of women have grown more robust after a group of people damaged the hospital where the attack happened.

The IMA said in a statement that emergency and medical services would still be available and that the strike would last 24 hours.

The head of the union, R. V. Asokan, told the TGE doctors that they have been hurting and protesting against violence for years but that this time was "qualitatively different."

He said this shows that "everywhere doctors are unsafe" if this kind of crime can happen in a medical college in a big city.

Earlier this week, doctors at some government hospitals said they would no longer use any treatment options.

The IMA also made a list of requests, such as strengthening the law to protect medical staff from violence, making hospitals safer, and ensuring people have safe places to rest.

It asked for a "careful and professional investigation" into the killing, the arrest of those who damaged the property, and money to be given to the woman's family.

The rape of the female training doctor, 31, has shocked the whole country.

Last week, her half-naked body with many wounds was found in a lecture hall at R G Kar Medical College. She was said to have gone there to rest during her shift.

Someone who volunteered at the hospital and was linked to the crime has been arrested.

The case has been moved from the local police to India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) because progress has yet to be made.

Since the woman's death, more rapes have been in the news in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that "monstrous behavior against women should be severely and quickly punished."

The rape and murder of the woman have caused a political blame game in West Bengal. The Trinamool Congress Party (TMC), which is in power, is blamed by the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

They denied the claim and said that "political outsiders" were to blame for making things more violent.

On Wednesday night, tens of thousands of women from all over West Bengal participated in the Reclaim the Night march. They wanted "independence to live in freedom and without fear."

Even though the protests were primarily calm, there were fights between the police and a small group of unknown men who broke into the RG Kar Hospital, where the crime happened, and sacked the emergency room.

So far, at least 25 people have been held in connection with the crime.

There have also been protests in Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Pune, among other Indian towns.

"It feels like hope is being reignited," Sumita Datta, a protester, told AFP as thousands of people marched through Kolkata on Friday.