His family members, in a petition filed on Friday, said they were compelled to approach the rights body as they were denied any information about his condition or his treatment at the Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai.
The family of activist and poet Varavara Rao, who is one of the accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case, have knocked the door of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking a direction to a Mumbai hospital, where Rao is being treated, and prison authorities to provide “transparent” updates on the poet’s health.
His family members, in a petition filed on Friday, said they were compelled to approach the rights body as they were denied any information about his condition or his treatment at the Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai.
“Today, we are compelled to write this letter to you, as we are denied any information about his condition or his treatment at the Nanavati Hospital. From the time he was shifted out of Taloja Jail to St Georges hospital to Nanavati hospital, the only official information provided to the family was that he had tested positive for the COVID-19,” they said in a petition.
They also added that denial of any information on Varavara Rao’s health is a direct violation of NHRC’s July 13 order, whereby it had specifically directed the prison authorities to provide all the necessary medical care and assistance to the poet with intimation to his family members.
Urging NHRC’s intervention, Rao’s family has sought official updates on his health and line of treatment every six hours.
Varavara Rao along with several other civil rights activists was booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for alleged Maoist links and plan to overthrow the government. The activists were earlier booked by the Pune Police after the violence that erupted in Bhima-Koregaon of Maharashtra.
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