By IANS,
Mumbai : A 17-year-old fisherman who was released from a Pakistani prison after being diagnosed with HIV positive was allegedly ill treated at a government hospital here.
The fisherman was arrested by Pakistani security officials in February after his boat was caught in a storm and strayed into Pakistani territorial waters.
He was put in a juvenile lockup and fell ill a few days later. The Pakistani government released him after he was diagnosed as being HIV positive and having tuberculosis, said Jatin Desai from the Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy, which was instrumental in the youth’s release.
The fisherman was flown from Karachi to Mumbai Wednesday morning, following which he was rushed to the state-run KEM Hospital in south-central Mumbai after he complained of weakness, chest pain, knee and joints pain, and diarrhoea.
At KEM hospital, authorities allegedly ill treated him and called him an absconder when he left his bed to defecate.
“He came back to the ward and doctors told him he was being treated as an absconder. He had to spend the entire night in the lobby,” Desai told IANS.
Desai said he found the HIV positive patient sleeping in the hospital corridor Thursday.
“After a lot of pleas, he was re-admitted and also got some medical care,” said Desai.
The fisherman, who hails from Valsad district of Gujarat, said he had received better treatment at Pakistani hospitals.
M.E. Yeolekar, dean of KEM Hospital, told IANS: “The patient is being treated by a HIV specialist. He is also being treated for urinary tract infection.”
Desai said the fisherman will be sent back to his family Saturday.