Kozhikode doctors go on strike to protest killing of Kolkata graduate student

Abandoned OP counters at Kozhikode University Teaching Hospital after doctors’ strike on Saturday. | Photo credit: K. Ragesh

Members of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Kozhikode chapter, joined the 24-hour strike from August 17 morning to protest the rape and murder of a postgraduate medical student at RG Kar Medical College Hospital in Kolkata.

A protest rally was held in the morning at Kidson Corner in the city. IMA treasurer Roy R. Chandran opened the rally which was attended by hundreds of doctors and medical students. IMA Kozhikode president Raju Balaram and representatives of Kerala Government Doctors Association, Kerala Government Medical College Teachers Association and Kerala Medical Graduates Association, among others, were present. Members of Kerala Government Nurses Union and nursing students took out a protest rally at the Government Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode.

Members of Indian Medical Association, Kozhikode chapter, hold a protest demonstration at Mananchira in Kozhikode on Saturday. | Photo credit: K. Ragesh

Meanwhile, services at all major hospitals, including the medical school hospital, were disrupted due to the strike. Patients seeking outpatient treatment were sent home without seeing a doctor. Some patients and their caregivers who visited the medical school hospital were not aware of the strike and were initially given emergency tickets. They were informed about the protest only later.

At the Government General Hospital, a sign was posted later in the day stating that there will be no operation service on August 17. However, doctors attended to those who needed emergency help and surgery.