Bhubaneswar: Junior doctors, interns and resident doctors along with medical students staged dharnas and rallies at different medical colleges across the state on Saturday, demanding justice for the young postgraduate trainee doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata on Aug 9.
The protests were part of a 24-hour nationwide strike call by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to protest the heinous crime.IMA had announced the withdrawal of non-emergency services from 6 am on Saturday to 6 am on Sunday.

From MBBS students to senior resident doctors, all joined the dharna and candle march at AIIMS Bhubaneswar on Saturday. Shouting slogans, the protesters staged a demonstration demanding justice for the woman doctor. Patient services were hit at the hospital due to the strike.
Junior doctors at PGIMER and Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar, also staged dharnas on the campus, demanding justice for the deceased and security for healthcare providers. They also took out a protest rally.
Protests were also held across the state peacefully without hampering emergency services. “We staged a demonstration at IMA House in Bhubaneswar on Saturday evening demanding justice for the deceased doctor,” said Pratyush Kumar Ray, secretary of IMA, Odisha state branch.
Similar protests were witnessed at SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur, Vimsar, Burla, SLN Medical College and Hospital, Koraput, and other medical colleges in the state. Patient services were badly affected in Vimsar due to the protest that started on Friday.
Junior doctors and other medicos of MKCG Medical College and Hospital and members of IMA, Berhampur branch, staged a dharna in front of the OPD building. “As per the decision of IMA, we expressed our solidarity with the junior doctors,” said Kamal Kant Panigrahy, president of IMA, Berhampur branch.
Subashish Behera, president of junior doctors’ association, MKCG, said they boycotted the OPD services since Friday. “We, however, rendered services for emergency cases and ICU patients. Around 500 junior doctors and other medicos joined the protest,” he added.
Around 125 house surgeons and 60 senior resident doctors at SLN Medical College and Hospital, Koraput, joined the protest, leading to a significant impact on healthcare services.
OPD and casualty ward were closed for the day, leaving many patients in distress. But emergency services were not affected because of the strike, official sources.
(With inputs from Priti Suna in Sambalpur, Hrusikesh Mohanty in Berhampur and Satyanarayan Pattnaik in Koraput)