Government doctors across Himachal Pradesh's Mandi district on Tuesday observed a 'pen down' strike for two hours over the failure to arrest an accused involved in assaulting and abusing a female doctor posted in Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur's home constituency.
The doctors threatened to go on an indefinite strike from Wednesday if action was not taken against the guilty.
The woman doctor was allegedly assaulted by the accused in an inebriated state at a primary health centre in Seraj.
Doctor's association President Jatinder Roorkee told the media in Mandi town, some 200 km from the state capital, that the 'pen down' strike was observed across the district to express solidarity with the victim.
He demanded the arrest of the accused by Tuesday night. "Otherwise we will be forced to go on indefinite strike from Wednesday. However, the emergency services will not be hampered," he added.
Meanwhile, the government has constituted a Special Investigating Team to probe the incident.
Health services were affected across the district, mainly in remote places.
State Health Minister Vipin Parmar, who has sought a report on the incident, has directed his department not to post a woman doctor alone in remote public prime health centres during the night.
"If a woman doctor has to be deployed at night, a woman paramedic must accompany her," he said.
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