‘I need to feel safe’: After Indian rape and murder, doctors demand change

Shaken and scared, doctors in Kolkata and the rest of India demand justice and safety measures.

Kolkata, India – On August 21, a hot, humid afternoon, thousands of doctors and medical students marched through the capital of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. Female doctors led the march, many in black T-shirts, some with stethoscopes around their necks.

Among the banners the protesters held, one in particular spelled out the tragedy that united them: “She had taken an oath to save lives, not lose her own,” it said.

The doctors and students were calling for justice for a 31-year-old trainee medic who was raped and murdered in one of the largest government-run hospitals and medical colleges in Kolkata on August 9.

The murder has prompted nationwide protests, with professionals from medical colleges across West Bengal as well as other residents of Kolkata coming out to protest, march and hold candlelit vigils. A major protest is planned for Tuesday, with organisers calling on participants to march to Nabanna, the complex that houses the West Bengal state government.

Among the protesters at the August 21 rally was 31-year-old Sapna*, a junior doctor from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the institution where the trainee doctor was killed. Like many other doctors and students who spoke to Al Jazeera, she asked that her name be changed because she feared repercussions from the hospital and college administrators.

“If a woman doctor can be killed in a hospital while on duty, where can we women ever feel safe again?” Sapna asked, before breaking off to join the chants of, “We want justice.”

“I love what I do,” she continued, wiping sweat from her glasses. “It is a passion, not a profession. But I need to feel safe