Professor Hany Babu, an undertrial prisoner in the Bhima Koregaon case, has been admitted in JJ Hospital, for treatment of an acute eye infection that he developed in Taloja jail, causing his eye condition to ‘deteriorate alarmingly’.
Confirming the news of his hospitalisation, his wife Jenny Rowena, however, also informed The Quint that they do not have any details about his health status at the moment.
Previously, Hany Babu’s family had shared, in a statement on Tuesday evening, that they had repeatedly been asking the jail officials to provide him with medical care and release his health updates, given the acute nature of his eye infection.
“He has little or no vision in his left eye due to the swelling, which has spread to the cheek, ear and forehead, compromising other vital organs as well, and posing a significant risk to his life if it spreads to the brain.”Statement by Hany Babu’s family (on Tuesday)
Further, his family’s statement had read: “He is in agonising pain and is unable to sleep or perform daily chores. Due to an acute water shortage in the prison, he does not have access to clean water to even bathe his eye and is forced to dress his eye with soiled towels.”
The family had said that the swelling in his left eye started on 3 May, which led to double vision and severe pain. Since the prison Medical Officer had already informed Hany Babu that the prison did not have the facilities to treat his eye infection, Babu had immediately requested for consultation and treatment with a specialised doctor.
“But he was not taken for consultation, because an escort officer was not available. It was only after his lawyers sent an email on 6th May to the Superintendent, Taloja Jail, that he was taken to a Government Hospital in Vashi on 7th May.”
However, his condition ‘deteriorated alarmingly’ even after the visit, as per the letter; and he was not taken back to a hospital until Wednesday, according to reports.
Rowena is not sure if he was admitted after he returned from the hospital and his condition deteriorated (as some reports suggest) or if he was just held back when he went for his check up.
Babu, an Assistant Professor in Delhi University, has been accused of “propagating Naxal activities and Maoist ideology.”
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