Poet Varavara Rao (81) has been admitted to Mumbai JJ Hospital’s neurology department after he felt giddy, and underwent some tests. He was taken from Taloja Central Jail to the State-run hospital on Monday morning.
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Dr. Sanjay Surase, Superintendent of JJ Hospital, told The Hindu that Mr. Rao was admitted to the neurology department. “This is a case of giddiness and he is under evaluation and investigation. His general condition is fair and vitals are stable,” he said.
Sunil Ramanand, Additional Director General (Prisons), said Mr. Rao has been admitted to JJ Hospital for some tests and doctors would decide whether he needed to be admitted for any treatment.
When asked about which tests have been conducted on Mr. Rao since yesterday, a doctor at JJ Hospital requesting anonymity said, “tests and investigations conducted on a patient cannot be revealed. It would be a breach of the patient’s privacy.”
Also read: Medical treatment appeal for Varavara Rao
Mr. Rao’s daughter Pavana said the family was not informed about his being shifted to the hospital. She told The Hindu, “We had called in the morning on July 13 and were told by the Superintendent of Taloja that Mr. Rao is doing absolutely fine”.
She recounted that on May 29 she learnt about her father being shifted to the hospital a day later not from the prison authorities but from the Hyderabad police.
Mr. Rao was incoherent and delirious when he called his family on July 11 and spoke about his parents funeral that took place decades ago. Vernon Gonsalves, 61, co-accused in the Bhima-Koregaon case and who takes care of Mr. Rao inside the prison, told the family that the poet was not able to walk, go to the toilet and brush his teeth on his own.
Advocate R. Sathyanarayanan, representing Mr. Rao in courts in Mumbai, has filed an application before the Bombay High Court to urgently hear Mr. Rao’s appeal against the rejection of an interim medical bail. It is slated to be heard on July 17.
