Non-emergency hospital services across India are shut as doctors take part in a 24-hour strike as part of ongoing protests following the rape and murder of a colleague in Kolkata a week ago. Thousands of people have demonstrated in city streets across the country demanding justice. The assault on the 31-year-old has reignited national outrage at the chronic issue of violence against women. The most recent statistics show 445,000 crimes against women in 2022. That's on average about 51 crimes every hour. Among those, there were 31,000 rapes reported, or on average, one rape reported every 16 minutes. Our correspondence, Ashna Shukla, had more from Mumbai.

Now, the largest doctors group, which is the Indian Medical Association, has joined into the protest. So today, 24 hours of nationwide strike, first such where both government as well as private healthcare institutions, will stop all non-emergency services. So all your elective surgeries, as well as outpatient departments in both government and private hospitals, will be closed today. And that is a mark of protest, and literally amping up the protest to put pressure both on the investigative agency as well as the government to do more about safety. We know that the top crime agency is investigating the incident of the rape and murder of the 31-year-old trainee doctor in Kolkata, and protesters are trying to amp up more and demand that a speedy trial and justice is given in that matter. And they're also demanding that the government come up with stricter laws to make it safer at workplace. We heard from one of the protesters that they spend hours together at the hospital. That's literally like their second home. And if they are not safe even there, then where can women be safe? And despite laws having come into place, they're not effective on ground. Most of the protesters who I have spoken to over the last few days have told me that there are laws, but they're not effective, and hence they are demanding that the government come up with one, a central law that can protect doctors against any violence that is leveled at them.

Secondly, is to also make it more safer for women at workplaces and outside. Despite laws, violence against women has only gone up. If we go by the government statistics, over the last one year, it has gone up by 4%, and this is something that the politicians, the government, and the public all need to sit up and take notice of.

That was the BBC's Asha Nahauna Shukla there.