Sarabjit’s survival chances ‘slim’, family visits him at Lahore hospital

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Family members of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, who is in coma after a murderous attack on him by fellow prisoners in a Lahore jail, met him on Sunday in the hospital where he is admitted. Earlier, the family members were granted 15-day visa by Pakistan authorities. Doctors treating Sarabjit at Jinnah Hospital has said that his condition is critical and that the chances of his survival are slim. Sarabjit’s sister Dalbir Kaur said, "Sarabjit Singh`s face is swollen, he was beaten by iron rods... He is unconscious, in a very critical condition... I was in hospital for 10 minutes and spoke to the doctors," "I plead to our government with folded hands. Please take him to any country for his treatment. Don`t waste time, save him. So far, when I tried to fight for his freedom, I only got hollow assurances," she said. "He is completely unconscious. He does not know anything. He is on ventilator," Dalbir Kaur said, adding that she could feel his breath and heart beat. Indian High Commission officials today visited Sarabjit for the second time in as many days after permission was granted by Pakistani authorities following an initial denial. "The officials visited Singh in the Lahore hospital. His condition remains unchanged," a spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said. Sources said his skull was fractured after being hit on the head with bricks and his face and torso cut with weapons fashioned from spoons and pieces of ghee tins during the brutal assault on Friday when he was attacked by at least six other prisoners within his barrack at Kot Lakhpat Jail. The doctors found a haematoma (a localised collection of blood outside vessels) larger than 3 cm, indicating that he was in need of surgical intervention, sources said. Another source quoted doctors as saying that Sarabjit`s condition was measured as 5 on the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), which indicates the level of damage to a person`s central nervous system. (With agency inputs)