The growing frequency of attacks has created an environment of fear for doctors, young and old. A 26-year-old doctor at Calcutta Medical College tells me, “For several months now, I have stopped wearing my stethoscope around my neck whenever I step outside my department building. Initially, I used to feel proud to wear it. But now, fear is the stronger emotion.”

“After the death of a child at Calcutta Medical College recently, people came in and began threatening the doctors. It was very scary for the doctors who were present. This happened around 4 to 5 am on 22 May, and the security guards were nowhere to be seen. The absence of security personnel when you need them is not surprising.”

Another doctor at CMC quips, “The child who died had been brought in a very critical condition. There was nothing more we could have done. But the family and those that came with them were really angry at us, as if it was our fault.”