UTTAR PRADESH: Doctors across India suspended non-emergency services and protested on the streets after the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata last week, demanding justice for the victim, legal reforms and action from the government.
The government brought in sweeping changes to the criminal justice system, including tougher sentences, after the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old in 2012. But campaigners say little has changed.
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“Once the incident occurs…nothing ends there,” said Asha Devi, the mother of the 2012 gang rape victim, who fought an uphill legal battle to bring legal reforms after her daughter’s assault.
The victim’s parents will have to keep demanding justice for their daughter, reiterating the details of the incident for years in court, Devi added.
In terms of reform, Asha Devi said despite changes to the legal system, the inaction on the part of the government leads to such incidents happening repeatedly, and in that regard, “we are still living in 2012.”
On December 16, 2012, the 23-year-old victim and a male friend had been returning home from the cinema, media reports say, when six men on a bus beat them with metal rods and repeatedly raped the woman. Her injures were so severe that she later died in hospital. The friend survived.
The incident sparked riots and led to public outrage across India, bringing thousands of people onto the streets in protest against authorities’ failure to ensure women safety.
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Out of the six men convicted of the crime, one committed suicide in jail, and another – a teenager – was remanded to a juvenile reform centre while the four others were given death sentence. The Indian parliament also introduced new anti-rape laws.
Anger at the failure of tough laws to deter a rising tide of violence against women has fuelled similar protests by doctors and women’s groups.