Indian medical professionals on Saturday began a 24-hour shutdown of non-essential medical services across the country, as protests against the rape and murder of a fellow medic intensify.

The shutdown, which began at 6 a.m. (0030 GMT), will cut off access to elective medical procedures and out-patient consultations in the world's most populous nation, according to a statement by the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

Essential services would remain operational, the medical body said.

Doctors' association calls for shutdown of services

The protests were triggered by the rape and murder of a female medical trainee last week at the R G Kar government hospital in the eastern city of Kolkata.

"Doctors, especially women, are vulnerable to violence because of the nature of the profession. It is for authorities to provide for the safety of doctors inside hospitals and campuses. Both physical assaults and crimes are a result of indifference and insensitivity of the authorities concerned to the needs of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers," IMA said in a statement on Friday.

Thousands march through cities to demand better safety

Thousands of people marched through various Indian cities Friday to ask for better security for doctors at work as well as demand accountability for the woman's killing.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led a rally in the state's capital city, Kolkata, on Friday, after students, doctors and residents took to the streets on the eve of India's Independence Day. 

Protests have generally been peaceful, but a mob on Wednesday night vandalized the hospital where the medic was killed, with protests having picked up more steam following the incident.

Demonstrators also gathered near Parliament in New Delhi, and people assembled in various other cities like Mumbai and Hyderabad.

Suvrankar Datta, a resident doctor at one of India's top government hospitals in New Delhi, said protests would continue and that hospital services could be hampered in the capital in the following days to come.

Multiple medical unions in both government and private hospitals have backed the protests.

Medic had to work a 36-hour shift

The 31-year-old medic had settled down for a short nap after working for nearly 20 hours of a 36-hour shift before she was killed, local media reported. A police volunteer has been detained in connection with the crime.

But state government officers who first began investigating the case have been accused of mishandling it. The case has been transferred to a federal agency.

Doctors have repeatedly cited threats to their lives while on the job, with many calling for measures like cameras on university campuses to ensure safety.

Protests have largely also focused on the big problem of sexual violence against women in the country — with female Indian social media users sharing harrowing stories about the many times they have felt unsafe.

rm, ch/sri (AFP, Reuters, AP)