Varavara Rao, jailed Indian poet-activist, contracts COVID-19

Varavara Rao, an Indian poet-activist, jailed for allegedly inciting caste violence, has tested positive for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by coronavirus.

According to BBC, Rao contracted the virus on Thursday, amid concerns over his worsening health condition in jail where he had been kept for about two years.

The Maoist ideologue and poet had consistently dismissed the allegations pressed against him but authorities have denied him bail even when no official charge has been filed before a court.

He was recently transferred to a state-run hospital where he is receiving treatment.

The development comes after his family issued a statement and held an emergency press conference alleging the poet was not getting proper treatment.

In the statement titled “don’t kill Varavara Rao in jail!”, the family, citing a recent visit, said Rao was delirious and unable to even brush his teeth without other cellmates — also incarcerated for the same allegation — helping him.

The 80-year-old’s family maintained that his health condition has not improved while also accusing officials of neglecting him.

His family added that when they visited him during the week, he was found unattended to sitting on a bed soaked with urine.

It was also gathered that the poet could not recognise his wife and daughters again amid his deteriorating condition.

Maharashtra, a state in India where Rao was jailed, has witnessed surge in COVID-19 cases, raising fears over the poet’s safety.

India has over a million confirmed cases of the novel disease with 25,664 deaths recorded as of Friday, according to worldometers.

Efforts by his lawyers to push for his bail have not yielded positive result.