Maharashtra: On the first death anniversary of Father Stan Swamy, the tribal rights activist who died in Indian police custody while awaiting bail on 5 July 2021 at Bhima Koregaon. Swamy’s 11 co-accused known as “Elgar Parishad” group had observed hunger strike for one day.
They protested against the alleged lack of proper medical treatment and the institutional murder of Father Stan by a negligent administration to mark his first death anniversary.
The letter by accused Sudhir Dhawale to Jail Superintendent of Taloja reads, “Even one year after of the brutal assassination of Father Stan Swamy by the prison administration and the government, instead of any change in the people, their brutal mentality and prison conditions, the situation is only going from bad to worse with every passing day.
There are no specialist doctors & nurses and the patients are given the same type of medicine for any life-threatening diseases. The letter narrates the incidents leading up to Father Stan’s death.”
A mandatory Magisterial inquiry into the death cause of Father Stan is yet to be completed and a petition filed by the Jesuits regarding the same is pending before the Bombay High Court. “While standing shoulder to shoulder in the fight for the rights of poor tribals even suffering from Parkinsons, Father Stan Swamy, 84, was jailed with the intention to teach him a lesson for his humanitarian values.” Web Desk
