Indian medics stage nationwide strike over doctor's rape and murder

FRANCE 24 English

Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00A joint cry for justice as medical workers gather once again on Saturday morning to call

00:06for the better protection of women. Doctors, students and nurses, thousands took to the

00:11streets marking the beginning of a national strike, more than a week after the rape and

00:16murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor in Kolkata, killed in the hospital she worked

00:21at.

00:23The Indian Medical Association has said all non-essential hospital services would be shut

00:27down until Sunday morning, with over a million workers expected to take part in the walkout.

00:33It's another day of mass demonstrations after tens of thousands of protesters took to the

00:38streets on Friday. That evening, the father of the victim thanked those who joined for

00:42their support.

00:45All the protesters who are out on the streets are like my sons and daughters. I feel they

00:52have now become my children. My daughter is gone but millions of sons and daughters are

00:56now with me. This has given me a lot of strength and I feel we will achieve progress.

01:03The brutality of his daughter's death has shone a new spotlight on the endemic problem

01:07of sexual violence against women in India. In 2022, an estimated average of 90 rapes

01:12were reported daily. The marches have been an opportunity for women to voice their fears.

01:18I am scared. Where is our safety? Is there enough safety? Our question is that.

01:26Tougher legislation against sexual violence was introduced in India following the gang

01:30rape of a student in New Delhi in 2012. But officials are often accused of mishandling

01:34investigations, leaving crimes unpunished. And activists say the situation in the last

01:39decade has barely improved.

Category

Transcript

Recommended