India’s top court orders protesting doctors to resume work amid outcry over Kolkata rape

India’s Supreme Court ordered all doctors protesting over the rape and murder of a female doctor last month to resume work by Tuesday, warning they may face “adverse action” if they failed to adhere to the deadline.

Hundreds of doctors nationwide have stayed off work as they demand justice for the woman, whose body was found on August 9 in a classroom at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, in the eastern state of West Bengal, where she was a trainee.

A police volunteer was arrested for the crime and federal police said last week that the former principal of the college had also been arrested for alleged graft.

Doctors have also been demanding better amenities in government-run hospitals, which they say lack security and basic infrastructure such as resting spaces for staff.

The Supreme Court on Monday said that no adverse action would be taken against doctors who returned to work by Tuesday evening.