India’s top court, hearing the fatal sexual assault case involving a trainee doctor in Kolkata, announced on Tuesday the formation of a national task force to ensure the safety of healthcare workers.
The decision comes days after the rape and murder of a trainee doctor that caused outrage and nationwide protests.
A 10-member body of senior doctors will draft guidelines to protect medical professionals and other healthcare workers across the country, Chief Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud said, after taking up the case suo motu. The three-judge bench led by Judge Chandrachud criticised the government's callous attitude, saying it could not “wait for another rape” to occur.
The court also asked the federal Central Bureau of Investigation to submit a report on Thursday on the status of its investigation.
The 31-year-old trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, in West Bengal state, was sexually assaulted and killed on August 9. Her body was discovered in the government-run hospital with 16 external and nine internal injury marks, including those to her head and neck that indicated strangulation, according to the postmortem report.
Doctors nationwide have held protests and refused to see non-emergency patients, demanding a safer workplace and a swift criminal probe. A civic volunteer was arrested by the police, but the Calcutta High Court transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation after her colleagues and family said more than one person was involved in the assault.
“Why we decided to take suo motu though the Calcutta High Court was hearing it is because this is not just a case of a horrific murder in Kolkata hospital, but this is about the systemic issue about the safety of doctors across India,” Judge Chandrachud said.
“Medical professions have become vulnerable to violence,” he remarked. “Due to ingrained patriarchal biases, women doctors are targeted more. As more and more women join the workforce, the nation cannot wait for another rape for things to change on the ground.”
Demonstrators have named the female doctor as Abhaya, which means “fearless”. Under Indian law, the name of a victim of sexual assault cannot be publicly disclosed.
Justice Chandrachud also asked all the states to collect data on the number of security personnel posted at each hospital and the total number of resting rooms. He asked for the report to be submitted in a month.
The government in 2022 set up measures to protect doctors, including criminalising violence against healthcare professionals and introducing penalties for offenders.
Violence against doctors is widespread in the country. A survey by the Indian Medical Association found that 75 per cent of doctors had faced some form of violence.
Justice Chandrachud said protecting the safety of doctors and female doctors was a matter of “national interest”.
“We are deeply concerned about the virtual absence for safe conditions for doctors … There are legislations in the State to protect medical professionals, but they do not address the systemic issues … We need to evolve a national consensus for a standard national protocol for safe work conditions,” he said.
“The task force shall look into the safety, well-being of medical professionals and other cognate matters highlighted.”
The bench also looked into the acts of vandalism by a mob that attacked the hospital as protesters, mostly women, gathered for a midnight march on August 15.
“The West Bengal government was expected to maintain law and order and protect the crime scene,” the bench said, adding it was “unable to comprehend why the state could not do so.”
The strike by junior doctors since the incident was reported has led to outpatient departments being closed and disruption to elective services.
Justice Chandrachud urged the protesting doctors to resume work.
“The abstention from work of doctors affects those segments of the society who need medical care the most from accessing day to day services,” he said.
