Shift my father to another hospital: Sarabjit's daughter

Amritsar, April 27 (IANS) Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh's daughter Saturday pleaded that he be shifted to a better facility from Lahore's Jinnah Hospital for treatment.

Sarabjit, who was critically injured after a brutal assault on him in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison Friday evening, was taken to the Jinnah Hospital where doctors said that he was "critical" and in "deep coma".

"We are very concerned about his condition. The authorities should immediately shift him to a good hospital with better facilities. This (Jinnah) hospital does not have adequate facilities," Sarabjit's daughter Swapandeep said here.

Sarabjit's family, comprising his sister Dalbir Kaur, wife Sukhpreet Kaur and daughters Swapandeep and Poonam, are expected to cross over to Pakistan from the Attari-Wagah border between both countries, 30 km from here, Sunday morning to be with him.

"We have got the visas and will leave tomorrow (Sunday) morning. They have given permission for one person to be with him in the hospital," said Swapandeep.

"We will be satisfied once we meet him and pray that he gets well soon," she said.

Sarabjit was admitted to Jinnah hospital after being assaulted by fellow prisoners in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison Friday. He suffered critical head injuries in the unprovoked and sudden assault by four to five prisoners with bricks and plates.

He has been on death row in Pakistan since 1990 after being convicted by Pakistani courts for bomb blasts in Lahore and Multan, which left 14 people dead.

Sarabjit's family claims he is innocent, having inadvertently crossed into Pakistan in August 1990 in an inebriated state, only to be arrested there.

Police in Pakistan however claim that Sarabjit Singh, known as Manjit Singh, was involved in terrorist strikes.

In Sarabjit's hometown Bhikiwind, and in Amritsar and Patiala, people protested the vicious attack on him.