On 16 July, Varavara Rao, a poet and one of the eleven accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, tested positive for COVID-19. On 20 July, the NIA filed an affidavit in the Bombay HC accusing the 81-year-old Rao of seeking "undue benefit" of his illness for bail. The affidavit was filed in response to Rao's appeal against an order rejecting his bail plea. Today, Rao’s family wrote to the National Human Rights Commission after being denied any information about his health by hospital and prison authorities.
Read The Caravan’s report on how Bhima Koregaon inmates can barely communicate with their families during the COVID-19 pandemic.
July 24, 2020
To,
Mr. Debindra Kundra,
COMMENT