On Monday, hundreds of doctors demonstrated near India’s Health Ministry to demand strict laws protecting health care workers against violence and seek justice for a colleague who was raped at a government-run hospital and then killed.

Police stopped the protesting doctors who were holding placards such as “Justice delayed, justice denied” when they attempted to set up free services outside of the ministry in New Delhi.

After the rape of a 31-year old trainee in Kolkata, capital of West Bengal, on August 9, doctors and medics throughout India held protests and marches by candlelight and temporarily refused to treat non-emergency cases.

Doctors say that the attack highlights the vulnerability and insecurity of medical staff at hospitals and medical campuses throughout India. The doctors are calling for stronger laws that would make any assault on a medic on duty a crime without bail. They also want increased security in hospitals and safe places to rest.

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Daisy Singh, a doctor protesting, said: “If a woman isn’t safe in a workplace or hospital, then I wonder who is safe in this country?”

The government asked doctors to return to their jobs and announced that it would set up a comittee to examine the demands of these doctors.

The murder and rape of a trainee doctor in Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital also brought to light the issue of violence against females.

The victim’s family claims that a police volunteer who worked at the hospital was arrested and charged for the crime. However, the family believes it was more than one person involved. The case was handled by federal investigators.

The march was led by thousands of women in Kolkata, who demanded justice for the doctor. Women in India are still facing violence, they say. This is despite the tough laws passed after the murder and gang-rape of a student aged 23 on a bus in Delhi.

This attack prompted lawmakers to introduce harsher punishments for crimes of rape and to set up a fast-track court dedicated to such cases. The government has also introduced the death sentence for repeat offenders.

Sexual violence against women in India has continued to be a problem despite tougher laws. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, in 2022 police received 31,516 rape reports, a 20 percent increase from 2021.