The father of the trainee doctor who was raped and murdered in an Indian hospital has thanked protesters and asked for harsh consequences for the perpetrator.
“People and friends across the world, all the men and women who are supporting me, are just like my children and I stand with them,” said the father of the 31-year-old trainee doctor at a state-run hospital in Kolkata.
Hundreds of doctors gathered in New Delhi on Monday, protesting near India’s health ministry to demand stronger protections for health care workers following the rape and murder.
The father called for justice for his daughter: “I hope the culprit who is behind my daughter’s rape and murder … gets the harshest punishment.”
Manish Swarup/AP
The woman’s aunt told the media: “She was aiming for a gold medal in her medical degree. That was her dream.”
The family were also planning her wedding, which was set to take place in November.
“In her last conversation around 11:15 p.m., she told her parents to eat dinner, have their medicines and sleep, and assured them that she was okay,” a family member told the media.
A wave of protests and rallies have gripped the nation for over a week after the attack.
Demonstrators, carrying placards with messages like “Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied,” were met by police as they tried to set up free outpatient services for patients outside the health ministry on Monday.
The brutal assault on Aug. 9 at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital has sparked nationwide outrage, mobilizing the medical community across India.
Doctors and health care workers have organized protests, candlelight vigils, and temporarily halted nonemergency services to demand justice for their colleague.
The case has highlighted the vulnerability of medical professionals in India as well as the rise of violence against women.
Protesting doctors are calling for urgent legal reforms, including making attacks on on-duty health care workers non-bailable offenses, increasing security in hospitals, and ensuring the availability of safe rest areas for medical staff.
The Indian government has urged doctors to return to work and has promised to form a committee to address their concerns.
A police volunteer working at the hospital has been arrested and charged, but the victim’s family say that the assault was a gang rape involving multiple perpetrators.
In Kolkata, thousands have marched in the streets, with many women leading the calls for justice.
Protesters argue that this case underscores the persistent threat of violence faced by women in India, despite the introduction of tougher laws following the 2012 gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a Delhi bus.
Sexual violence remains a widespread problem in India. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, police registered 31,516 rape cases in 2022—a 20% increase from the previous year.
