On May 21, when the Bombay High Court took up for hearing a bail application from human rights activist Stan Swamy, the 84-year-old Jesuit ...
On May 21, when the Bombay High Court took up for hearing a bail application from human rights activist Stan Swamy, the 84-year-old Jesuit priest made an emotional plea that he be allowed to go back to Ranchi, his home town, given his medical condition.
Accused in the case related to the violence in Bhima Koregaon village near Pune in 2018, Swamy was arrested by the National Investigation Agency in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic in October 2020. Fifteen other activists have also been arrested in the case and have been charged under several sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for alleged association with the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist).
Apart from other ailments, Swamy suffers from Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurological condition.
When it was suggested by the court that he should consider getting admitted to the government-run JJ hospital in Mumbai, Swamy said it would not make much of a difference. In his eight-month stint at the Taloja jail, the activist said his condition has deteriorated to a point that he could not even do basic tasks like eating and bathing by himself. “I don’t want to be hospitalised there. I would rather suffer, possibly die very...
