Elghar Parishad case: Varavara Rao’s family approaches NHRC against prison authorities for not giving health details
Rao’s wife P Hemalatha and his three daughters -- P Sahaja, P Anala, and P Pavana -- wrote to the NHRC authorities on Friday and urged them to intervene and direct the Maharashtra government and prison authorities to give a regular update about his health condition and also share the details of his treatment.
The family members of veteran Telugu poet and social activist, P Varavara Rao (81), who is an accused in the Elgar Parishad/Bhima Koregaon case, has approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for not intimating them about his health condition and the modalities of his treatment, despite the rights panel’s July 13 order.
Rao’s wife P Hemalatha and his three daughters -- P Sahaja, P Anala, and P Pavana -- wrote to the NHRC authorities on Friday and urged them to intervene and direct the Maharashtra government and prison authorities to give a regular update about his health condition and also share the details of his treatment.
The family members have asked for directions to Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital and the prison authorities for updates on Rao’s health condition every six hours and to appoint a point person, who they can contact with for any information relating to his health condition and the modalities of the treatment.
“We are denied any information about his health condition or his treatment at the Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital. From the time he was shifted out of Taloja Jail to St George’s hospital to Nanavati hospital, the only official information provided to us was that he had tested coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive,” stated the letter to the NHRC.
“The family was not informed, either by the Nanavati hospital or prison authorities, about a head injury that he is believed to have sustained,” it stated.
Rao’s kin also referred to an NHRC order issued on July 13, directing the prison authorities to provide all the necessary healthcare and assistance to the veteran Telugu poet and social activist with periodic intimation to his family members.
However, the family members claimed that they are yet to receive any intimation.
“It is our right to get routine updates about the medical status of a patient, including any treatment that he is undergoing and the risks involved regarding it. Keeping us in the dark about his (Rao’s) medical status is a flagrant violation of the NHRC directive,” the letter added.
Rao was shifted from the state-run St George’s Hospital to Nanavati Super Speciality Hospital on July 19 morning following an NHRC order.