GUWAHATI, March 5 - Two human rights groups, Human Rights Alert, Manipur and Human Rights Defenders Alert, India, have moved the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking its intervention on the issue of �deteriorating health condition� of anti-CAA activist and KMSS leader Akhil Gogoi.
In a memorandum to Justice HL Dattu, Chairperson, NHRC, the two organisations said that Gogoi who is currently lodged in the Guwahati Central Jail after his arrest on December 12, 2019, had been long suffering from severe back pain and kidney-related ailments and was under constant medical observation at the time of his arrest.
�His health condition, in the absence of proper medical care and treatment, significantly deteriorated and is a serious cause of concern. Given this, he was taken to the Gauhati Medical College on February 29, 2020, almost 75 days after his arrest. He was kept under observation for a day, no tests were conducted apparently for the clearance from the �National Investigation Agency� and sent back to the central jail. He wasn�t admitted in the hospital despite complaining about stomach pain due to urine infection,� the memorandum said.
The memorandum added that Gogoi�s legal counsels who had gone to meet him in the jail on March 2 were unable to meet him as he was down with high fever and severe stomach pain and not in a position to get up from the bed. Stating that as the Gauhati Medical College is directly under the control of the Government of Assam, the organisations urged the NHRC to consider directing a team of doctors from AIIMS, New Delhi, to medically examine Gogoi within a specified period of time and submit its report to the commission.
It also urged the NHRC to consider recommending appropriate directions to ensure that Gogoi is given appropriate medical treatment at AIIMS or preferably a hospital outside Assam.
The memorandum further urged the NHRC to consider directing the Prison Monitor or Special Rapporteur to visit the Gauhati Central Jail, record submission by Gogoi and submit a report to the commission within a specified period of time.
