India's Supreme Court ordered all doctors protesting over the rape and murder of a female medic last month to resume work by today (Tuesday), warning they may face "adverse action" if they failed to adhere to the deadline.
Hundreds of doctors nationwide have stayed off work as they demand justice for the woman, whose body was found on Aug. 9 in a classroom at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, in the eastern state of West Bengal, where she was a trainee.
A police volunteer was arrested for the crime and federal police said last week that the former principal of the college had also been arrested for alleged graft.
Doctors have also been demanding better amenities in government-run hospitals, which they say lack security and basic infrastructure such as resting spaces for staff. The Supreme Court on Monday said that no adverse action would be taken against doctors who returned to work by Tuesday evening.
"The resident doctors cannot be oblivious to the needs of the general community whom they are intended to serve," said Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, heading a three-judge bench of the court.
The court also directed the West Bengal government to take steps to assure doctors of their concerns being addressed, including by providing separate duty rooms and toilets for male and female personnel, and installing CCTV cameras. Demonstrations over the attack spread beyond India's borders over the weekend, as thousands of diaspora Indians protested in more than 130 cities across 25 countries, including Japan, Australia, Europe, and the US.
The court, which took up the matter of its own accord following outrage over the incident, had earlier formed a hospital safety task force to recommend steps to ensure the safety of medical workers.
Women's rights activists say the incident has highlighted how women continue to face sexual violence in India despite tougher laws being introduced after the 2012 gang-rape and murder of a woman in a moving bus in Delhi.
