A photo of an older man (92) on oxygen support and his feet chained to the hospital bed is going viral claiming that the older man is late Jesuit priest Stan Swamy. The photo is being shared with a caption that claims he is Stan Swamy and reads, “Fr Stan Swamy passed away today at 1.30 pm, says Dr D’Souza from Holy Family Hospital to Bombay HC.”
Several netizens bashed the government for tying a nonagenarian to the bed. The social media was flooded with emotional posts. Indian Youth Congress (IYC), Karnataka, also shared the photo and wrote that Stan Swamy fought for the rights of the adivasis and may he be at peace. Many others expressed their grief and prayed for the late soul. They shared the viral image and gave their condolences.
The ‘claimed’ to be man from the viral image is Stanislaus Lourduswamy, popularly known as Stan Swamy (84), who was a tribal rights activist who succumbed to cardiac arrest on 5 July. Following his deteriorating health, he was put on ventilator support on 3 July in Mumbai’s Holy Family Hospital. National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Swamy on 8 October last year under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). He was accused of participating in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence and having links to Maoists. The courts had rejected Swamy’s bail pleas multiple times.
Swamy was lodged in Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai after his arrest last year in connection with the Elgar Parishad case. He was charged under anti-terror law by the National Investigation Agency.
In May Fr. Swamy tested positive for Covid-19 and was claimed to be suffering from several ailments, including the Parkinson’s disease. On May 28, Fr Swamy told a vacation bench of the high court via videoconferencing that his health had consistently declined at the Taloja prison.
Last month, the NIA had filed an affidavit before the HC opposing Swamy’s bail plea. It said there was no “conclusive proof” of his medical ailments. On July 4, he was put on ventilator support following post Covid-19 complications in the lungs and pneumonia. He died ahead of his bail hearing in the Bombay High Court.
On looking further at the matter, the truth was unfolded that the elderly man, who is tied to bed in the viral image is Baburam Balram Singh (92), convicted in a murder case. Singh was suffering from severe breathing issues, following which he was hospitalised in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district on 9 May 2021.
According to a report of Punjab Kesari, Baburam Balram Singh was serving life imprisonment for a murder case. Kuldeep Singh Bhadauria, Etah District Jail Jailor, informed that the officer on duty shackled one of Singh’s legs and tied the end of the chain to the bed’s railing to stop the older man from fleeing away.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government over the chaining of a nonagenarian prisoner to his hospital bed during treatment at the Etah district hospital, officials said on Friday.
The NHRC has sought a report from the state government within six weeks of receipt of the notice.
Last month, a photo of Baburam Balram Singh, a convicted murderer, sitting on a hospital bed with an oxygen mask on and his feet chained to the footboard was posted on social media.
An official of the Etah district jail was suspended in connection with the incident
The Times of India also reported on 14 May that Baburam Balram Singh was brought to Etah jail on 6 February. He is a resident of the district’s Kulla Habibpur village.
Thus, the tied nonagenarian man in the viral image is of convict Baburam Balram Singh tied to a hospital bed in UP who has been falsely shared the image of late Jesuit priest Stan Swamy who passed away on 5 July in Mumbai.
