Jailed poet Varavara Rao, sent to hospital after a public outcry over his failing health, tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday.

In jail since 2018 in connection with his alleged role in the Bhima-Koregaon case, the bail pleas of the 79-year old Rao, who has multiple ailments, and 10 other accused persons have repeatedly been rejected.

In May, two prisoners at Taloja Central Prison in Mumbai, where Rao and several of the other accused in the case are kept, tested positive for Covid-19 after they died.

J.J. Hospital associate dean Ranjit Mankeshwar told The Telegraph that Rao was shifted to St George Hospital, a dedicated Covid facility, on Thursday.

Jail authorities had kept insisting that Rao’s loss of ability to walk, or use a toilet by himself, as well as his hallucinations were only a result of advanced age, and that his health was being monitored by doctors at the prison hospital.

After widespread outrage, Rao was sent for a check-up to J.J. Hospital on Monday.

Hyderabad-based human rights activist Kalpana Kannabiran posted on Facebook: “The state is directly responsible for causing life-threatening harm wilfully. If this is not a crime against humanity, what is?! The lives of other accused under UAPA being denied bail is in grave danger. CUSTODIAL TORTURE. NOTHING LESS.”