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A 12-hour general strike on Friday has been called in Siliguri by the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) over the rape-murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College.
The strike disrupted normal life in Siliguri and most shops in the city were closed since 6 pm. A member of SUCI (Communist) Dr Shahriar Alam said, "Today this strike has a huge impact. People have spontaneously responded to our call and throughout Siliguri like the Medical College area, people have not taken out their vehicles, and they have not opened the shops. We can say that the impact is very good. We have called this strike to protest against the heinous incident at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital." He further said that the strike was also called to protest against the vandalism at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. "The brutal rape and murder and then two days ago at midnight outsider goons attacked and assaulted the doctors, nurses, protesters and even the patients. They broke everything inside the hospital to clear away the evidence so that the murderers and rapists can be saved. In protest, we have called the strike. This movement has spread throughout the country and abroad. Doctors, nurses and people have expressed their solidarity," he said. A nationwide withdrawal of services has been announced by doctors of modern medicine starting from 6 am on Saturday, August 17 to 6 am Sunday, August 18, per the official statement released by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Thursday. On Thursday police said that a mob of between 5,000 and 7,000 people, including several individuals invaded RG Kar Hospital, attacked protesting doctors and medical students, and attempted to ransack the premises on the night of August 14. On August 9, a postgraduate trainee doctor was raped and murdered on duty at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, which has led to nationwide strikes and protests by the medical fraternity. (ANI)
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