Agitating junior doctors attend 500 patients on day 1 of telemedicine service

Kolkata: Agitating junior doctors at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital on Saturday said they treated around 500 patients through a telemedicine service on the first day of this initiative.

The junior doctors have been on cease-work since August 9 evening, hours after the body of a post-graduate trainee, who was allegedly raped and murdered, was found in the seminar room of the state-run facility. The agitation severely affected healthcare services.

West Bengal Junior Doctors Front on Friday announced that they would provide telemedicine services from Saturday. They named the service ‘Abhaya (fearless) Clinic’.

A section of the media has been calling the deceased ‘Abhaya’ to avoid disclosing her real name. Identifying a rape victim is prohibited by the law.

The service began at 10 am and concluded at around 2 pm, a member of the Front said.

The prescriptions given at ‘Abhaya Clinic’ have slogans – ‘We Want Justice for RG Kar; Destruction of crime scene’ – written on it in both Bengali and English.

Four new SIM cards were registered for the purpose and the numbers were shared with everyone, one of the junior doctors said.

“After services at the Clinic began, patients started making phone calls and video calls on WhatsApp and informed us of their problems. The doctors prescribed medicines and sent the photo of the prescription to the patient on WhatsApp,” he told PTI.

“There is no question of moving away from the path of agitation and will continue to demand justice for our sister. We will continue to work like this in the coming days till our demands are fulfilled,” he said.

Junior doctors have been agitating for the 22nd consecutive day following the death of the medic.

A Kolkata Police civic volunteer has been arrested in this crime which is now being probed by the CBI detectives.