Lahore:
Pakistan has stopped consular access to Sarabjit Singh, the Indian prisoner who is at a Lahore hospital in critical condition after being brutally attacked by a group of prisoners in jail on Friday, Indian government sources have said.
They said Indian diplomats are not being allowed to visit Sarabjit, who is in deep coma and on ventilator support at the state-run Jinnah Hospital. The Pakistan government has reportedly said that consular access was allowed for a single meeting only, since the hospital is now being deemed a sub jail. The diplomats had visited Sarabjit yesterday.
India has asked Islamabad for regular access to Sarabjit, citing "humanitarian grounds." That request is being processed, Pakistan's Foreign Office told NDTV.
Sarabjit, 49, is on death row in Pakistan, which accuses him of being responsible for bomb blasts that killed 14 people in that country 23 years ago.
His family has reached Lahore and is expected to visit him today after the Pakistan High Commission issued four emergency visas on Saturday. One or two members of Sarabjit's family will be allowed to stay with him at the hospital, Indian High Commission in Islamabad said. The visas of Sarabjit's family came after a push from New Delhi. The Prime Minister said yesterday that the attack was a "very sad incident". (Read)
India has offered all necessary medical assistance to Sarabjit, who, his lawyer said, is "in coma and is critical. 60 per cent of his brain is damaged... his backbone is broken."
Sarabjit was assaulted at the Kot Lakhpat Jail, where he has been lodged since 1990, on Friday evening reportedly by six prisoners in his cell. They reportedly attacked Sarabjit with bricks and a blade. (Read: How Sarabjit Singh was attacked)
Two prisoners have been booked for attempt to murder. Four jail officials, including the warden, have been suspended.
His family has claimed that they had reported to the Indian government earlier this year about a threat to Sarabjit's life. "My father told us he was being threatened from Pakistan after Afzal Guru's hanging. He feared for his life... We had told the Home Minister and the Minister of External Affairs... no action was taken," said Sarbajit's daughter, Swapandeep Kaur, in tears.
A distraught Ms Kaur alleged that the attack was premeditated and that jail authorities were involved. Sarabjit's family claims that he crossed over to Pakistan from his border village in Punjab in a drunk state in 1990 and had nothing to do with the blasts he is accused of.
They said Indian diplomats are not being allowed to visit Sarabjit, who is in deep coma and on ventilator support at the state-run Jinnah Hospital. The Pakistan government has reportedly said that consular access was allowed for a single meeting only, since the hospital is now being deemed a sub jail. The diplomats had visited Sarabjit yesterday.
India has asked Islamabad for regular access to Sarabjit, citing "humanitarian grounds." That request is being processed, Pakistan's Foreign Office told NDTV.
Sarabjit, 49, is on death row in Pakistan, which accuses him of being responsible for bomb blasts that killed 14 people in that country 23 years ago.
His family has reached Lahore and is expected to visit him today after the Pakistan High Commission issued four emergency visas on Saturday. One or two members of Sarabjit's family will be allowed to stay with him at the hospital, Indian High Commission in Islamabad said. The visas of Sarabjit's family came after a push from New Delhi. The Prime Minister said yesterday that the attack was a "very sad incident". (Read)
India has offered all necessary medical assistance to Sarabjit, who, his lawyer said, is "in coma and is critical. 60 per cent of his brain is damaged... his backbone is broken."
Sarabjit was assaulted at the Kot Lakhpat Jail, where he has been lodged since 1990, on Friday evening reportedly by six prisoners in his cell. They reportedly attacked Sarabjit with bricks and a blade. (Read: How Sarabjit Singh was attacked)
Two prisoners have been booked for attempt to murder. Four jail officials, including the warden, have been suspended.
His family has claimed that they had reported to the Indian government earlier this year about a threat to Sarabjit's life. "My father told us he was being threatened from Pakistan after Afzal Guru's hanging. He feared for his life... We had told the Home Minister and the Minister of External Affairs... no action was taken," said Sarbajit's daughter, Swapandeep Kaur, in tears.
A distraught Ms Kaur alleged that the attack was premeditated and that jail authorities were involved. Sarabjit's family claims that he crossed over to Pakistan from his border village in Punjab in a drunk state in 1990 and had nothing to do with the blasts he is accused of.
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