Mumbai: The health of noted academician, poet, writer, orator and political activist Varavara Rao, who has been in jail for close to two years, has began to deteriorate after he had a fall on May 28 inside the prison. Varavara Rao’s family members have appealed the Centre and the Maharashtra government to provide him with immediate medical care.
The family has claimed that he is suffering from memory loss and has been unwell since the lockdown.
Rao, who is one out of the 11 political prisoners arrested in the Bhima Koregaon violence case, since last two years, his interim bail plea citing ill health and susceptibility to COVID-19 was rejected by a special court on 27 June.
During an online press conference on Sunday, Rao’ nephew Venugopal said, “Don’t kill him in jail. His brain is getting damaged.’
Rao’s wife Hemalatha said, “He appeared to be in a state of delirium and hallucination, as he was talking about the funeral of his father and mother, the events that happened decades ago.”
Hemalatha said that his life is the topmost concern and their demand is to save his life. “We demand the government to shift him to a better hospital or allow us to provide the required medical care,” she added.
“We, the family members of Varavara Rao, world-renowned Telugu revolutionary poet and public intellectual, who is incarcerated in Navi Mumbai’s Taloja Jail, are very much worried about his deteriorating health. His health condition has been scary for over six weeks now, ever since he was shifted in an unconscious state to JJ Hospital from Taloja Jail on May 28, 2020. Even as he was discharged from the hospital and sent back to jail three days later, there has been no improvement in his health and he is still in need of emergency healthcare,” Hemlatha appealed.