After NIA Rejects, Social Media Users Send Sippers for Stan Swamy

83-year-old Stan Swamy, a Parkinson’s patient, has been demanding a sipper and a straw for over 20 days.

83-year-old Stan Swamy, a Parkinson’s patient, has been demanding for a sipper and a straw for over 20 days.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Several screenshots on social media shared in the last two days read the following:

Sipper and Straw: Ordered.
Address: Mumbai’s Taloja Jail.

Why?
Arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case, 83-year-old Stan Swamy, who is a patient of Parkinson’s disease, has been asking the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for a sipper and a straw to drink for over 20 days. The NIA on Thursday, 26 November, had told the court that they do not have a straw and a sipper for Swamy.

NIA’s response triggered many social media users to join the campaign #SippersForStan where they placed orders for a sipper and straw and provided the address of Taloja jail.

In his application Swamy had said:

“I cannot hold a glass as my hands are unsteady due to Parkinson’s.”

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) which arrested Swamy from his residence in Ranchi on 8 October, had told the court on 6 November that it needed 20 days time to respond to Swamy's request.

The court, which grants special permission for articles to be brought in from outside, had thereby slated the matter for hearing on 26 November.

The court has now asked the medical officer to reply to the requirement of straw and sipper, along with the requirement of winter clothes on 4 December, reported LiveLaw.

WHAT DID THE SPECIAL PUBLIC PROSECUTOR SAY?

Special Public Prosecutor Prakash Shelly reportedly said to LiveLaw:

“Actually, they (Stan Swamy’s lawyers) never applied for straw and sipper. They claimed that while arresting him we had recovered the straw and sipper from him. We simply said that we have recovered no such articles from him, so how can we provide?”