At the stroke of midnight, when the nation celebrated its 78th year  of  independence, resident doctors’ WhatsApp groups were flooded with distressing messages and videos from Kolkata. A mob had stormed RG Kar Hospital where a trainee doctor had been raped and murdered, disrupting a peaceful protest, allegedly compromising crucial evidence and leaving a trail of vandalism and fear. It would be a sleepless night for doctors at the scene and in the city.
 
Medical associations of resident doctors maintain internal communication channels through social media and instant messaging apps. “One group I’m part of has about a thousand members on WhatsApp across multiple states,” said Dr Sagar Dole of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD).

A medical room of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital after being vandalised by unidentified miscreants. Pics/PTI