West Bengal Healthcare Paralyzed as Junior Doctors Strike Over Colleague's Murder

Junior doctors in West Bengal have gone on strike for the fourth day, protesting the rape and murder of a woman doctor and demanding a magisterial inquiry. Services at state hospitals have been severely disrupted, with senior doctors stepping in to manage emergency duties. Nationwide support for the strike is growing.

Healthcare services across West Bengal faced significant disruptions on Monday as junior doctors, interns, and postgraduate trainees extended their strike into its fourth consecutive day. The protest was sparked by the rape and murder of a female colleague, for which the doctors are demanding a magisterial inquiry.

According to sources, the junior doctors had been handling emergency cases over the past three days but ceased even those duties by Monday morning. ''We want an impartial investigation into the murder of our colleague, either by the CBI or a sitting magistrate. We are dissatisfied with the current police probe and will continue our protest until justice is served,'' stated a protesting doctor from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the site of the incident.

The body of the woman doctor was discovered in a seminar hall at the hospital on Friday, and an arrest was made on Saturday. To manage the crisis, the state government has canceled the leave of all senior doctors. Senior doctors have been instructed to handle the patient load, particularly heavy on Mondays at outpatient departments of government hospitals. The strike has garnered widespread support, including from the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association of India (FORDA), which has called for a nationwide halt of elective services and demanded increased security for healthcare workers.

(With inputs from agencies.)