On his 33rd birthday, Mahesh Raut, an accused in the Bhima-Koregaon violence, on Wednesday, spoke to his sister and mother in Gadchiroli from Taloja central jail where he is lodged.
Mr. Raut, the youngest accused in the case who was arrested from Nagpur on June 6, 2018, on charges of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, managed to speak with them for barely two minutes. His sister Monali, who lives in Mumbai, said this is his third birthday away from the family.
Ms. Monali told The Hindu that Mahesh called their mother as well as elder sister Sonali, who live with the extended family in Wadsa tehsil, on Wednesday afternoon.
Ms. Sonali said the entire family was keen to talk to him, but the call from the jail automatically got disconnected after two minutes.
Talking about the situation inside jail, Ms. Sonali said her brother never talks about any difficulty he faces inside because he doesn’t want the family to worry.
Ms. Monali said she was able to meet her brother before the lockdown on March 14 to give him medicines for his ulcerative colitis for two months. And now that postal services have started, she was able to send him a letter and medicines.
Mr. Raut is an Adivasi rights activist at Gadchiroli and a student of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He has worked as a Prime Minister Rural Development Fellow in Gadchiroli.
