Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Coimbatore serial blasts case undertrial tests HIV positive

V.S. Palaniappan

Government responsible for their health, say counsel

COIMBATORE: Following a Coimbatore serial blasts case undertrial testing HIV positive, the other accused and their counsel have held the State Government responsible for the health of the undertrials lodged in the Coimbatore central prison.

State-brief counsel P. Thirumalairajan, Bhavani P Mohan, M.H. Abdur Rehman and Mohammed Abubacker told presspersons outside the court that the health of Abbas alias Chinna Abbas (accused number 48) was very bad. He was admitted to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital a fortnight ago for suspected tuberculosis.

Medical reports

K. Uthirapathy, judge, special court for bomb blast cases, called for medical reports of the prisoner by 3 p.m. on Tuesday, following a demand made by counsel and the undertrials.

The report revealed that he had tested HIV positive. The other undertrials told the court that Abbas, who underwent a surgery for appendicitis two years ago, was all right then. They alleged that he should have contracted HIV only in the last two years in the prison. The undertrials, numbering 150, refused to board the police vehicle for returning to the prison, counsel said.

Hygiene

They demanded that the ailing prisoner be immediately shifted to the Tambaram Sanatorium. The hygiene in the prison should be improved.

The use of same syringes and poor health care in the jail hospital and the practice of using the same "half-blade" for hair dressing of nearly 20 prisoners must have led to the undertrial contracting HIV.

Pointing out that there were surveillance cameras all round the high security block where these prisoners were lodged, counsel dismissed the charge that deviant sexual practices by the undertrials caused the incident. They demanded immediate steps to turn the prison into a safe place.

Besides, they sought bail for some undertrials against whom there had been no incriminating depositions by any of the 1,300 witnesses, since they were facing trial for the last eight years.

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