India: Female doctors express fear after rape and murder of one of their own

Radhika, a 28-year-old Indian doctor, had been saving lives since he was young, but since the rape and murder of one of his colleagues she is worried about her safety.

The discovery on August 9 of the bloodied body of a The 31-year-old female doctor at the government hospital in Calcutta where Radhika works has sparked outrage across the country.

Her murder and rape have highlighted the harsh working conditions of women doctors, who are gripped by fear. “I was on night duty for two days before this incident,” says Radhika, who works at the R.G. Kar Teaching Hospital in Kolkata.

“What she did is what we all do: rest whenever and wherever we can,” she says.

The murdered young woman – whose identity has not been officially revealed but whom protesters have dubbed “Abhaya” (the fearless one) – was found in a lecture room at the teaching hospital, where she had reportedly gone to rest after long hours of work.

Protest by health workers after the rape of a female doctor in Bangalore, India, on August 17, 2024 © AFP – Idrees MOHAMMED

For Radhika, whose name has been changed for fear of professional reprisals, long hours, with barely time to eat or rest, are commonplace.

“It could have happened to any of us,” she points out.

Radhika recalls a terrifying moment when two men burst into the room where she was resting. “I was so scared.”

– Lack of security measures –

Tens of thousands of Indians took part in the protests, which doctors had called for preventive measures to be put in place, as a way for them to express their anger at the chronic problem of violence against women.

According to the Dasra organization, women make up nearly 30% of doctors in India and 80% of nurses. Assaults on female doctors are common.

India's Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the creation of a task force to strengthen the security of health workers, saying “the brutality of the sexual assault and the nature of the crime” committed on August 9 in Kolkata “have shocked the nation.”

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A blood-stained lab coat and a stethoscope during a protest denouncing the rape and murder of a female doctor in Vijayawada, India, on August 14, 2024 © AFP – Idrees MOHAMMED

She said she was compelled to intervene because “the lack of security measures in health facilities in the face of violence against staff is a serious concern.”

The court particularly highlighted “the lack of CCTV cameras” and metal detectors for visitors to hospitals.

The director of care at KC Hospital in the southern city of Bengaluru, Indira Kabade, is also worried about employees returning home after work. “We never know if they are being followed,” she notes

“While we work tirelessly to save lives, there is a need to rethink workplace security,” she says.

Ms. Kabade and many of her female colleagues want “airport-like security,” with police officers on duty.

– “Rethinking Security” –

The atrocity of the events at the hospital brought back memories of the rape and murder of a young woman on a bus in New Delhi in 2012.

Nearly 90 rapes per day were reported in 2022 in this country of 1.4 billion people. However, experts believe that this figure represents only the tip of the iceberg, due to the culture of silence that prevails in this very patriarchal society.

Exhausted doctors sleep when they can, on a chair or on the floor. “They are simply completely exhausted and their bodies are exhausted,” Radhika sums up.

Health workers hold up a placard reading “Hang the rapists” during a protest against the rape and murder of a female doctor, in New Delhi, on August 16, 2024 © AFP – Sajjad HUSSAIN

In hospitals with deplorable sanitary conditions, there are toilets for doctors, but men and women have to share them, and some do not lock.

A female doctor in Thiruvananthapuram, a city in the southern state of Kerala, says she, like her colleagues, is the victim of daily verbal and physical attacks.

Female doctors have been encouraged to take self-defense classes organized by the doctors' association.

“Some people call doctors gods or angels,” says this woman who works in Kerala.

“So we think we are safe from crimes. And when such a crime happens in a place that we consider the safest, we all get scared.”

Although she questions her safety, Radhika has no doubts about her future in Calcutta: “I will fight and continue working to treat others.”

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