Thousands of people march in the streets of Kolkata as authorities struggle to contain protests demanding justice.
Some young Indian doctors stayed off work while demanding swift justice for a colleague who was raped and murdered in a hospital, despite the end of a strike called by a major doctors' association, as street protests continued.
Doctors across the country have held protests and candle-lit marches and refused to treat non-emergency patients over the past week following the murder of the 31-year-old postgraduate medical student in the early hours of August 9 in the eastern city of Kolkata.
In solidarity with the doctors, thousands of people marched through the streets of Kolkata on Sunday night chanting “we want justice” as authorities in West Bengal state struggle to contain protests against the horrific crime.
Activists say the incident at the British colonial-era RG Kar Medical College and Hospital has highlighted how women in India continue to suffer despite tougher laws following the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in Delhi in 2012.
India introduced sweeping changes to the criminal justice system, including tougher sentences, after that attack, but activists say little has changed and not enough has been done to deter violence against women.
A police volunteer, appointed to assist police staff and their families with hospital admissions when necessary, has been arrested and charged with the offence.
The Indian Medical Association, whose 24-hour strike ended at 6 a.m. (00:30 GMT) on Sunday, told Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a letter that since 60 percent of India's doctors are women, it needed to intervene to ensure hospital staff were protected by airport-like safety protocols.
RG Kar Hospital has been rocked by unrest and protests for over a week. Police banned gatherings of five or more people in the vicinity of the hospital for a week from Sunday, a move that was defied by protesters late in the day before they dispersed.
The All India Residents and Junior Doctors Joint Action Forum said on Saturday it would go ahead with a “nationwide stoppage of work” with a 72-hour deadline for authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and make arrests.
In Modi's home state of Gujarat, more than 6,000 junior doctors in public hospitals remained away from non-emergency medical services for a third day on Sunday, though private institutes resumed normal operations.
