Father Stan Swamy, the elderly tribal rights activist, imprisoned in the Bhima Koregaon case has passed away in a Mumbai hospital on Monday. He was 84. Swamy was on a ventilator for some time when the National Human Rights Commission had asked the Maharashtra government to extend all medical assistance to the activist. He suffered from acute Parkinson’s and was also a Covid-19 patient which he contracted during his stay in Taloja Central prison.
Father Swamy’s bail was up for hearing in the Bombay High Court today when his doctor said he passed away at the Holy Family Hospital in the Maharashtra capital. The activist had gone into cardiac arrest early on Sunday and could not be revived and had been on ventilator, said the doctor.
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Father Swamy, who ran an organization for the empowerment of Adivasis, had been arrested under the UAPA by the NIA in October 2020 and was among the 15 activists arrested in Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad cases. The activists were accused by the NIA of being linked to a Maoist conspiracy.
Along with Father Swamy, the police had arrested Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Gautam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves and Sudha Bharadwaj in the Elgar Parishad Conclave case. Varavara Rao has been on bail since March after treatment at the Nanavati Hospital.