Elgar Parishad case: Rao’s family writes to home minister, seeks update on his health

Family members of veteran Telugu poet P Varavara Rao, who is arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad case, have approached Maharashtra home minister seeking

Family members of veteran Telugu poet P Varavara Rao, who is arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad case, have approached Maharashtra home minister seeking updates on Rao’s health.

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The family, in the letter written on Monday, stated, “It is inhuman and unethical to withhold the information about Rao’s health to his anxious family. It is very clear that the jail authorities have regular updates about Mr Rao’s health.”

The family claimed that since Rao has been taken to the hospital, they have been trying to call both the jail and hospital authorities regularly but have not received any update.

When Rao’s daughter tried to contact the authority at Nanavati Hospital, she was told that they have informed the jail administration and that she should approach the jail authorities for the same. However, jail authorities later asked them to approach the hospital. Citing this, the family said, “It is a mystery why this information is not passed on to the family by the jail authorities.”

The family further said that “Rao is an undertrial prisoner in your custody and the jail authorities have the responsibility to give us regular updates or instruct Nanavati Hospital to release regular health bulletins.”

The family had, on Friday, approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) over the issue.

In the letter to NHRC, Rao’s wife P Hemalatha and his daughters P Sahaja, P Anala, P Pavana asked NHRC to intervene and direct the state government and prison authorities to give periodic update on Rao’s health and share details of the treatment with the family.