West Bengal Junior Doctors' Protest Over Colleague's Murder

Junior doctors in West Bengal are on strike to demand justice for a murdered colleague at RG Kar Medical College. The protest, affecting healthcare services, calls for a judicial probe and senior officials' removal. State efforts to manage the crisis have met resistance from the agitating doctors.

Junior doctors across West Bengal continued their strike on Tuesday, protesting the rape and murder of a woman doctor at a state-run medical college in Kolkata and demanding justice for her.

The strike has severely impacted healthcare services, with long queues forming at out-patient departments (OPDs) of government hospitals as senior doctors stepped in to manage the rush.

The junior doctors have set an August 14 deadline for the Kolkata Police to complete their investigation, demanding a magisterial probe and the removal of senior officials from RG Kar Medical College.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has given the police until August 18 to solve the case or transfer it to the CBI.

The woman doctor's body was discovered on Friday, and a civic volunteer was arrested on Saturday in connection with the crime.

From Monday, junior doctors stopped all work, leading the state government to cancel senior doctors' leaves to handle the patient influx, particularly in OPDs.

Patients scheduled for surgeries were rescheduled, creating additional turmoil in hospitals across the state.

As a result of the protests, the hospital's principal resigned on Monday but was reassigned to another medical college, sparking further unrest among the doctors.

The agitating doctors refused to allow the principal's reassignment and declined to speak with political leaders who visited to mediate.

(With inputs from agencies.)