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Thiruvananthapuram: Senior resident doctors and PG medical students across Kerala will observe a token strike on Friday to mark protest over the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Kerala Medical Post Graduates Association (KMPGA) has declared that the PG doctors will boycott all non-emergency services including duty in the Out Patient department as well as wards. The association said that the strike would not affect the emergency department in the hospitals.
The medics in Kerala also demanded the central government implement the Central Protection Act for the safety of the doctors. Meanwhile, associations of government doctors will observe black day tomorrow to mark their protest.
A postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and brutally murdered while on duty at the hospital on August 9 at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. A civic volunteer has been arrested in connection with the crime the next day. The Calcutta High Court ordered immediate transfer of the investigation into the crime to the CBI from the Kolkata Police on August 13. The brutal rape and murder led to nationwide protest of doctors seeking justice for the deceased and implementation of Central Protection Act for the health care workers. In Delhi, The Resident Doctors Associations of major hospitals including AIIMS, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia, Indira Gandhi Hospital, Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Maulana Azad Medical College continued the strike for a third day on the trot, shutting down OPDs, operation theatres, and wards.
Last year, the doctors and house surgeons in Kerala took to the streets to protest over the murder of Dr Vandana Das, a house surgeon. Vandana was stabbed to death by a man brought by police for treatment at Kottarakkara Government Taluk Hospital on May 10, 2023.
