Vara Vara Rao's family appeals to NHRC for his release

July 24, 2020 18:33

Professor Varavara Rao, poet and activist.

The family of jailed poet activist Vara Vara Rao has made another appeal to the National Human Rights Commission to release him from custody.

Rao, among the 11 intellectuals charged under the UAPA for their alleged links to the violence that took place at Bhima Koregaon on January 1, 2018, has been in Taloja jail since February.

The following is the text of his family's letter to the NHRC.

To,

Mr. Debindra Kundra, Focal Point - Human Rights Defenders & Assistant Registrar,

National Human Rights Commission,

New Delhi.

Dear Sir,

At the onset, we, the family members of Mr Varavara Rao, would like to express our gratitude that the NHRC on July 17, 2020, directed that Mr Rao be provided the best possible treatment in a reputed super speciality hospital by the State Government of Maharashtra at its cost. Following this, he was admitted at the Nanavati Hospital.

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 George's hospital to Nanavati hospital, the only official information provided to the family was that he had tested positive for the Covid-19. Denial of any information on Mr Rao's health is a direct violation of NHRC's order dated July 13, 2020, whereby it had specifically directed the prison authorities to provide all the necessary medical care and assistance to Shri Rao with intimation to his family members.

Completely disregarding this NHRC directive, the family was not informed, by either hospital or prison authorities, about a head injury discovered on him upon arrival at the Nanavati hospital. We learnt about it only from friends in media and civil society.

Consequently, we receive no official updates from the hospital or the prison authorities and our consent isn't taken for any of the critical treatment that maybe required to administer him. His health becoming the subject of public speculation with no official or transparent information from the hospital authorities is causing extreme anxiety to the entire family.

We believe that the health updates of a person in judicial custody must be shared with his family. Denial of regular health updates to the family of Mr Rao is not only unconstitutional but it is a cruel and an inhuman act.

It is the family's right to get routine updates about the medical status of a patient, any treatment that he is undergoing and the risks involved regarding the same.

Keeping us in dark about Mr Rao's medical status is a flagrant violation of the NHRC directive.

We urge the NHRC to intervene urgently in this matter and to immediately direct the hospital and prison administrations to provide transparent, official updates on Mr Rao's health status and line of treatment on every six hours to us -- his family members.

The NHRC should also consider directing the hospital authorities to provide us with a point-of-contact in the hospital for regular updates and to make medical records accessible to his family.

We believe as Mr Rao's family we should have access to information and patient concerned as it should be according to the law of the land and medical ethics.

We also urge the NHRC to direct the concerned authorities to allow a family member to assist/attend him, since he is reportedly not in a position to do anything on his own.

Yours sincerely,

P Hemalatha (wife of Varavara Rao)

P Sahaja, P Anala, P Pavana (daughters)

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Bibhav Kumar sent to 5-day police custody in Maliwal assault case

It noted the prosecution's submissions about the need to take Kumar to Mumbai and other parts of the national capital to collect evidence, which was not possible without the accused's custody.

AAP workers marching towards BJP HQ detained, Sec 144 imposed

The traffic police also issued an advisory in view of the protest planned outside the BJP office at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, while entry and exit have been disallowed at the nearest ITO metro station.

Factors that will guide the markets this week

The last batch of quarterly earnings, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors will guide the equity market movement in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said. Volatility may continue amid investors' cautious...

'God's plan, baby': Yash Dayal redeems himself

Yash Dayal had the haunting memory of Rinku Singh's five consecutive sixes last year when Mahendra Singh Dhoni lofted his full-toss over the Chinnaswamy stadium roof in Saturday's crucial IPL match in Bengaluru.

Golden Girl Sobhita

After choosing the royal colour, Sobhita Dhulipala turned it up a notch higher and went for gold for her second appearance at the Cannes Film Festival.