Joe McConnell
Protests have intensified in India after a mob vandalised a hospital where a a medical intern was raped and murdered in the state of West Bengal.
The hospital was attacked on Wednesday during the massive The Reclaim the Night march was held in the city of Calcutta to protest against the brutal crime.
Smaller protests also took place in several other Indian cities, such as Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA), the country’s largest doctors’ association, has announced a nationwide strike of non-urgent services for Saturday.
Doctors’ associations in other cities and political parties in West Bengal have also planned marches on Friday and over the weekend to protest the attack.
Tens of thousands of women across the state participated in the Reclaim the Night march Wednesday night to demand “independence to live in freedom and without fear.”
Although the protests were largely peaceful, clashes broke out between police and a small group of unidentified men who stormed the RG Kar hospital, the scene of the crime, and ransacked its emergency room.
Videos circulating online showed the men destroying beds and equipment with sticks.
Protesters told the BBC that some doctors and hospital staff were injured in the attack. Police vehicles were also damaged in the chaos and tear gas was used to disperse the crowd.
Kolkata Police They arrested 19 people in relation to the incident so far.
Thursday, the The IMA condemned the attackcalling it “hooliganism unleashed against protesting students” and announced the withdrawal of non-emergency services for 24 hours starting at 06:00 local time [00:30 GMT] on Saturday.
“Doctors, especially women, are vulnerable to violence due to the nature of the profession. It is up to the authorities to ensure the safety of doctors inside hospitals and campuses,” the IMA said in a statement.
“IMA needs the solidarity of the nation for the just cause of its doctors.”
The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (Forda), another major doctors’ group, also resumed its strike, after canceling it on Tuesday.
The protest was called off after federal health minister JP Nadda assured members that their demands, including a federal law to curb attacks on doctors, would be met.
The incident has also triggered a political blame game in West Bengal, with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing the ruling Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) of orchestrating the attack.
The TMC rejected the allegations and blamed the violence on “external political agents”.
The rape of a 31-year-old medical intern has shocked the country.
His half-naked body with extensive wounds was discovered last week in a seminar room. A hospital volunteer who worked there has been arrested in connection with the crime.
Since then, two more rape incidents have made headlines in India.
In the northern state of Uttarakhand, a nurse was allegedly raped and murdered on her way home from work. She had been missing since late July and her body was found last week. Police have arrested a man from the western state of Rajasthan in relation to the crime.
Meanwhile, six people have been arrested in the northern state of Bihar for the alleged gang rape and murder of a six-year-old Dalit girl. Her mutilated body was found near a pond in a village in Muzaffarpur district on Tuesday morning.
