Protests have intensified in India after a mob vandalised a hospital where a female trainee doctor was raped and murdered in West Bengal state.
The hospital was attacked on Wednesday during the massive Reclaim the Night march held in Kolkata city to protest against the brutal crime.
Smaller protests were also held in many other Indian cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) – the country’s largest grouping of doctors has announced a nationwide strike of non-emergency services on Saturday.
Doctor’s associations in other cities and political parties in West Bengal have also planned marches on Friday and over the weekend to protest against the attack.
Tens of thousands of women across the state participated in the Reclaim the Night march on Wednesday night to demand “independence to live in freedom and without fear”.
Though the protests were largely peaceful, clashes erupted between the police and a small group of unidentified men who barged into the RG Kar Hospital, the site of the crime and ransacked its emergency ward.
The Kolkata police have arrested 19 people in connection with the incident so far.
