"He cannot walk, talk or eat food. We are not sure if he recognises us. He does not or is not able to give us any indications. He is still being fed through a tube. Then why are the doctors insisting that he gets discharged?," Unnao rape survivor's lawyer, Mahendra Singh's cousin brother, Kaushal Singh, tells us.
The family of the Unnao case lawyer, who had lodged a case of rape, intimidation and kidnapping against former BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar, has been asked to take him back home. Mahendra has been in AIIMS since the accident with a truck on 28 July, when he was taking the Unnao rape survivor and her two aunts to the Rae Bareli court.
The two aunts died on the spot, while the girl and the lawyer were moved to AIIMS under orders of the Supreme Court.
The family is worried about the lawyer's health, but the concerned doctor said that Mahendra ‘does not need to be in the hospital anymore.’
Speaking to The Quint, Kaushal, who has been staying with the family while he gets treatment in Delhi, says:
“They are saying he has been here for very long and they cannot do anything more... that there are other patients as well. This is concerning. They have to make some arrangements for him. He seems like he is in a coma anyway.”
The Quint also reached out to the lawyer of the family, who has been overlooking the proceedings in the Supreme Court, Poonam Kaushik, who said, "I do not know why the doctors at AIIMS are doing this. The doctor said the lawyer will be discharged tomorrow morning when the SC itself, in their order dated 16 December, has said that he needs to continue to get treatment. They have also asked for his medical bulletin on the next hearing, on 6 January."
Singh and Kaushik say that the doctors are insisting to see a copy of the court order. “I have tried to get my hands on this order,” Kaushik said.
“It has not been uploaded on the website yet. We followed up with the clerk's office, who said it was not uploaded because the order did not have the required signatures. How can they behave like this? This is contempt of court," she added.
The Quint reached out to Dr Deepak Gupta, head of the neuro department at AIIMS, who is overlooking the case.
"In my opinion, he can be discharged. The patient does not need active hospitalisation and can receive all the help he needs at home. About this court order, from 16 December, no such information has reached me."
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