Kolkata Physician Rape-Homicide: Let the Demise of Dr. Durga Be the Nirbhaya Motion for Medical doctors’ Security in India
As you learn this, the information of the loss of life of a younger girl resident physician at RG Kar Medical School, Kolkata, would have reached you already. On Friday, August 9, 2024, the physique of a feminine resident physician was discovered within the seminar corridor of RG Kar Medical School in a semi-nude situation with a number of ugly accidents indicating brutal sexual assault, smothering, and strangulation. The resident physician on responsibility was raped and murdered at her office whereas she was resting within the seminar corridor in the course of her insanely lengthy 36-hour shift.
The emergency division lacked a correct docs’ responsibility room, which is earmarked for resident docs to relaxation throughout such lengthy shifts. The brutality of the sexual assault and homicide has shaken the nation. There are widespread protests by docs and nurses throughout the nation demanding justice for the sufferer and systemic measures to make sure secure working situations for resident docs.
The Kolkata physician’s rape and homicide has additionally been taken up by political events, who’ve demanded a CBI inquiry. The West Bengal Chief Minister, who’s the one girl Chief Minister in India from a state recognized for its ladies’s security information, has requested for capital punishment for the accused. An individual has been arrested based mostly on circumstantial proof by the police, however the anger of the medicos is on the boil, and rightly so. Nation-wide protests have erupted in medical schools and hospitals, with the stopping of non-emergency companies. The docs are demanding swift justice within the case and long-term measures to forestall such an prevalence.
The Perpetual Drawback of Violence Towards Medical doctors
Whereas this brutal incident has shocked everybody, it isn’t the primary of its sort. Quite a few situations of violence towards docs have occurred, generally resulting in loss of life. The current case of Dr. Vandana Das serves as a stark reminder. Dr. Das was a resident physician at Taluka Hospital in Kerala when she was attacked by a affected person in police custody who had been introduced in for therapy. The physician was stabbed a number of occasions whereas the policemen sought security. She succumbed to her accidents.
Each week, incidents happen the place docs or different healthcare employees fall sufferer to violence perpetrated by sufferers’ attendants. At the moment, there isn’t any central legislation defending healthcare employees on responsibility from such violence. The demand for laws addressing violence towards healthcare employees has been long-standing. The federal government has regularly prevented enacting such legal guidelines, citing issues that different professions may also demand related protections.
Danger of Residency
Resident docs, who’re pursuing postgraduate medical schooling, typically keep on campus and can be found 24/7 for responsibility. Their lengthy working hours can stretch to 48 steady hours at occasions, with restricted safety, making them weak to assaults from offended affected person attendants.
The poor doctor-patient ratio and lack of devoted safety or employees to counsel attendants imply that residents not solely work lengthy hours but additionally want to guard themselves from potential violence.
Harassment and Abuse
Resident docs regularly face harassment and abuse from their seniors and academics, which could be exacerbated by their intersectional identities, akin to caste or faith. For instance, Dr. Payal Salim Tadvi died by suicide as a consequence of caste-based discrimination by her seniors; she was a Muslim from the Bhil group. Medical doctors with disabilities additionally face discrimination.
The present schooling and examination system grants undue energy to guides, supervisors, and division heads, which could be misused. Dr. Divesh Garg, a resident physician from Dehradun, Uttarakhand, died by suicide following alleged harassment from his thesis information. Equally, Dr. Sugirtha Selvakumar, a younger resident physician from Tamil Nadu, took her life as a consequence of sexual harassment, bodily and psychological abuse by her division head, and poisonous conduct from her seniors, as famous in her suicide letter.
Psychological Well being Woes
The MBBS program itself is mentally taxing, with added stress from securing a postgraduate seat, passing NEET exams, and different challenges. Psychological well being points amongst medical college students, significantly postgraduate residents, are extremely under-reported. An RTI revealed that 58 resident docs have died by suicide previously 5 years, based on the Nationwide Medical Fee (NMC). A survey by the NMC discovered that 37,000 medical college students have self-reported psychological well being points with suicidal threat. Moreover, 1,117 postgraduate college students dropped out within the final 5 years, as per NMC knowledge.
Prescription
- The NMC should guarantee secure and dignified working situations for resident docs, integrating these requirements into the minimal necessities for working medical schools. Pointers on safety preparations in hospitals, medical schools, hostels, residential areas, and posting locations ought to be issued and enforced.
- The Resident Medical doctors Affiliation ought to have a higher position in making certain secure working and dwelling situations by means of joint audits and ought to be included in committees overseeing implementation.
- Medical schools should spend money on ample and secure lodging amenities for resident docs.
- The long-standing demand for central laws to handle violence towards docs and different healthcare suppliers requires pressing consideration from legislators.
- The medical schooling and examination system wants reform to forestall misuse of energy by academics or examiners.
- Grievance redressal, anti-ragging, and inside criticism committees ought to be proactive, making certain confidential, swift, and honest decision of complaints, together with resident docs as members.
- A registry of docs’ suicides and incidents of violence towards docs is critical to collect correct knowledge on these points.
Whereas rapes are a every day crime in our nation, the gang rape and loss of life of Nirbhaya grew to become a milestone in India’s ladies’s security motion. The loss of life of the RG Kar Medical School girl resident physician in Kolkata shouldn’t be in useless. To honour her reminiscence, she could also be known as Dr. Durga, a tribute to the state’s favorite goddess. Let Dr. Durga’s loss of life in Kolkata spark a Nirbhaya-like motion for the protection of Indian docs.
Authors
Aqsa Shaikh – Professor, Group Medication, Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Analysis, Delhi
Amir Wasim, Resident Physician, Group Medication, Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Analysis, Delhi
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