Father Stan Swami
Father Stan Swami, the 84-yearold, who died on July 5 while undergoing treatment for deteriorating health and Covid19 infection in a Mumbai hospital, was jailed last October on fabricated terrorism charges, and had been subjected to harassment and repeated interrogations, Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders said in a July 15. Father Stan, a Jesuit priest who had dedicated much of his life to defending the rights of indigenous peoples and the Adivasi minority, died in custody on July 5, despite many requests for his release as his health deteriorated in prison The ailing priest, who belonged to the Jamshedpur Jesuit Province, was arrested amid the Covid-19 pandemic on October 8 from Bagaicha, a Jesuit social action centre he founded on the outskirts of Ranchi, the capital of the eastern state of Jharkhand. He was charged for alleged links with Maoist insurgents who were said to have been behind the violence in the state of Maharashtra


