(AP)

The Bombay High Court on Monday directed the Yerwada Central Prison to transfer a death sentence convict to the government-run Sassoon Hospital in Pune by Tuesday, as his health condition was deteriorating.

"The bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan was hearing a petition filed by Nitin Gopinath Bhailume. He, along with two others, was sentenced to death in 2017 by the Ahmednagar Sessions Court in the Kopardi rape and murder case."

Advocates Vijay Hiremath, Aditi Uniyal, and Swaraj Jadhav, representing Bhailume, stated that he suffers from neurological issues and his condition has been deteriorating since 2022.

Hiremath also noted that the prison doctors have been requesting the authorities to take him to a hospital. However, despite their requests, it has not been done for the past eight months.

After hearing Hiremath, the bench directed that Bhailume be taken to the Sassoon hospital on Tuesday and said, "We make it clear that the petitioner will be taken tomorrow to the Sassoon Hospital, Pune and no excuse will be made by the Jail Authorities and local Police, that escort is not available."

A 15-year-old victim was raped and murdered and was found with multiple injuries all over her body on July 13, 2016, at Kopardi village in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. After the three accused arrested in the case were sentenced to death, the confirmation of their death sentences is still pending before the Bombay High Court.

Meanwhile, last year, one of the co-convicts in the case, Jitendra Babula Shinde, also known as Pappu, reportedly died by suicide inside the Yerwada prison.

Input from various sources

(Rehash/Simran Sethi/MSM)