MUMBAI (UCAN): The Bombay High Court ordered on May 28 that imprisoned, 84-year-old Jesuit Father Stan Swamy, be moved to the Church-run Holy Family Hospital for treatment after his health deteriorated in prison.
The May 28 court order came after Father Swamy’s counsel, Mihir Desai, told the court that the priest’s health had deteriorated further and he needed special treatment outside the jail’s hospital.
The court also directed the hospital to assign an assistant to care for the priest.
“We are glad that the court has ordered Father Swamy to be moved to the hospital,” Father A. Santhanam, a Jesuit lawyer who is monitoring his case, said on May 28.
“Father Swamy has become so weak in these days that he is not able to walk or even eat properly and his blood pressure was dropping,” Father Santhanam explained.
Previously, Father Swamy had told the court through a video feed that his health had worsened since he was jailed (Sunday Examiner, May 30).
He is among 16 people charged under India’s stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, a controversial law that rights activists and others want scrapped.
Father Swamy who suffers from Parkinson’s disease and other age-related illnesses, has been detained in a prison in Mumbai, capital of Maharashtra state, since 9 October 2020.
