Elgaar Parishad case | Vernon Gonsalves given adequate medical treatment in jail: Authorities to court

The special court will hear his medical bail plea on Tuesday. The superintendent, jailor and a medical officer were present before the court and a report on Gonsalves’s health was filed. The jail report said that the authorities were not informed on August 31 that he was ill. It claimed that the 65-year-old visited the jail hospital on September 2 and complained that he had fever and headache. He was given adequate medication, the report said. It added that on September 3 and 4, the medical officer visited the activist in his cell and gave him medicines and an injection.

As his fever did not subside, on September 5, a rapid malaria test was done which came out as negative. He was asked to get admitted to the jail hospital which he refused, the report said.

Officials also said that blood samples of Gonsalves were asked to be collected from a hospital in Alibaug, but it was collected the next day as it was a public holiday. On September 6, Gonsalves was checked again by a visiting doctor and a decision was taken based on a discussion with the medical officer that he must be taken to J J Hospital. The report said that Gonsalves was treated and sent back to jail. The next day, his report came positive for dengue and guards were called to shift him again to J J Hospital but as they were unavailable due to Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations, the activist was taken to the hospital on September 8 and has been admitted there since.

Last week, a temporary bail application was moved on behalf of Gonsalves citing his ill health.

A statement by the kin of Gonsalves alleged that it was “yet another act of criminal negligence”. It was claimed that despite being ill from August 30, he was only administered paracetamol and antibiotics and was taken to J J Hospital after much pleading and then “callously” brought back to jail where his condition continued to worsen.

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