“This worries us”: Rape and murder of doctor triggers new fear among India’s female doctors | India

OOn Monday, Indians celebrated the Hindu festival Raksha Bandhan., symbolizes the bond between brother and sister. Sisters tie a “Rakhi”, a bracelet, around their brothers' wrists as a sign of love, in return for which the brothers promise to protect them from harm.

This year, the Rakhi tradition angered Dr. Sumita Banerjee, a third-year student at Lady Hardinge Medical College in the Indian capital of Delhi, because of its timing—India is still reeling from the August 9 rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor in a Kolkata hospital.

“What hypocrisy,” said Banerjee. “These men swear to protect their sisters but rape women. Can we stop these brother-sister rituals and simply work towards a day when Indian men not only respect their sisters but all Women.”

The discovery of the doctor's battered body in a seminar room at RG Kar Hospital, where she had taken a break, has outraged Indians. Since the crime, doctors across the country have held protests and refused to treat non-emergency patients.

The crime has created a new fear among female doctors. Their brains were already programmed to choose carefully what to wear depending on where they were going and to avoid being alone for long periods of time. But at work, many felt they could let their guard down.

“I went to the hospital at 2 or 3 am and thought nothing of it. My white coat was like a protective circle around me. Now that sense of security has disappeared,” said Dr. Rooma Sinha, a gynecologist at Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad.

Her colleague at Apollo's Bangalore office, Dr. Preeti Shetty, also a gynecologist, said the doctors were deeply disturbed by the crime.

“We have all been working night shifts, responding to calls at all hours of the day, attending deliveries at night – it's completely routine. For us as doctors, it's completely routine. The thought that something like this horrific could happen during our normal work is very disturbing for all of us,” Shetty said.

Apollo is a private hospital with extensive security. Shetty has a doctor's office on duty next to the delivery room where she can rest and which only authorised staff can enter. There are security guards on every floor and CCTV cameras are installed everywhere. She uses a hospital car for night shifts.

The hospital in Calcutta is a government facility with far less security. The man arrested, Sanjoy Roy, a police volunteer who was helping admit patients, had access to every part of the hospital.

In response to the striking doctors, the government announced on Tuesday that it would increase security personnel in all state hospitals by 25 percent. Security officers will also be deployed to deal with extreme situations. India's Supreme Court also ordered the establishment of a national task force of doctors to make recommendations on workplace safety.

Shetty is worried about the medical students who are joining the hospitals as junior doctors. “They have worked so hard to pass the entrance exams. Their parents have made sacrifices to finance their education. And now the parents have a new fear to worry about,” she said.

There are more female doctors than ever before. In fact, so many girls are choosing medicine that at most medical schools they make up half of the student body, and at some the proportion is as high as 60%.

A senior resident doctor at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital, who wished to remain anonymous, said she was nervous about returning to the night shift after the strike. As she attended a protest on Sunday with a placard reading “No safety, no duty,” she looked around and said, “It's weird, but after what happened to her, it actually feels safer to be out on the street than in a seminar room in a hospital.”

Dr Subashini Venkatesh, a general practitioner at Apollo in Chennai, is already behaving differently with her staff. “I'm working with an intern and I ask her, 'Where did you park your car? Is it well lit? Let me know when you get to your room.' This is completely new,” she says.

Sinha said she understood public outrage over the killing of a doctor in a hospital, but said no distinction should be made.

“Yes, I know that doctors serve the public, but so do other women – women who work nights in call centers or as software engineers. Women should feel safe in all jobs,” she said.

The ongoing protests provided some consolation to the parents of the deceased doctor. “My daughter is dead, but millions of sons and daughters are with me now. That gave me strength,” the father told reporters.

The investigation is being carried out by India's Central Bureau of Investigation, which took over the duties of the Calcutta police after the parents expressed doubts about the agency's objectivity.