A trainee doctor is raped and killed in India, sparking protests and an attack at a medical college

KOLKATA, India — A trainee doctor was raped and killed, sparking protests in several cities and an attack on a medical college campus as doctors and paramedics in several cities across India demand better and safer working conditions.

Scores of people went on a rampage at a medical college campus in eastern India, attacking vehicles and ransacking patient wards Wednesday night, police said Thursday. Police did not identify who was behind the rampage, but media reports said several police officers were injured and police fired tear gas in the Wednesday night clash at the R.G. Kar Medical College in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state.

The unrest began when police said a 31-year-old trainee doctor was found raped and killed Friday. A police volunteer was arrested in connection with the crime, and police handed the case to federal investigators following a court order.

Government hospitals in several cities across India have since suspended medical services except for emergency departments as protesters demanded justice, claiming that it was a case of a gang rape and more were involved.

Police in India recorded 31,516 reports of rape in 2022, a 20% increase from 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.

Many cases of crimes against women go unreported in India due to stigma surrounding sexual violence, as well as a lack of faith in the police. Women’s rights activists say the problem is particularly acute in rural areas, where the community sometimes shames victims of sexual assault and families worry about their social standing.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned atrocities against women in the country.

“There is outrage against this in the country. I can feel this outrage,” Modi said in an address to the nation on its 78th Independence Day.

State Governor C.V. Ananda Bose visited the medical college Thursday to review the situation.

Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition Congress party, said in a statement that he saw an attempt by some state government officials to protect the suspects rather than punish them.

Rape and sexual violence have been under the spotlight since the brutal 2012 gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus. The attack galvanized massive protests and inspired lawmakers to order harsher penalties for such crimes, and the creation of fast-track courts dedicated to rape cases.

The rape law was amended in 2013, criminalizing stalking and voyeurism and lowering the age at which a person can be tried as an adult from 18 to 16.

Despite stringent laws, rights activists say the government is still not doing enough to protect women and punish attackers.