Hyderabad/New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) The body of former Delhi University professor and rights activist GN Saibaba, who died in Hyderabad, will be donated to a hospital as he wished, a statement issued on Sunday said by his family.

Saibaba, 58, was released from Nagpur Central Prison after 10 years of incarceration after the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court set aside the life sentence awarded to him by a trial court, in an alleged case of Maoist links in which the strict Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) was invoked.

The former professor who taught English at Delhi University’s (DU) Ram Lal Anand College died on Saturday due to post-surgery complications, seven months after he was acquitted.

Saibaba was suffering from a gallbladder infection and was operated on two weeks ago at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), but developed complications later.

His daughter Manjeera told PTI Videos that he had COVID twice, his health was in terrible condition while he was in jail and he recovered each time. Therefore, she said her family hoped he would return this time too. Neither Saibaba nor his family members expected the death, she said, adding that he had expressed his hope during the last conversation she had with him.

Expressing sadness over what he has experienced in his life, Manjeera said, “His body had taken too much all these years. “I miss him. I still can’t believe he’s not with us. I always feel like I’m going to open the door and there he will be, sitting in his wheelchair, telling me to do this and that I still feel like he’s still with us,” she said.

She said they knew his condition was serious since Saturday afternoon, but around 8 p.m., doctors told the family his heart had stopped beating and they were trying to perform CPR on him. They declared him dead at 8:30 p.m. last night, Saibaba’s daughter added.

Saibaba was fired by the DU and his official accommodation was confiscated after his arrest in 2014.

Saibaba’s death will continue to weigh heavily on the public conscience, said Professor Saikat Ghosh, one of the few AU teachers who raised his voice against his imprisonment and the manner in which he was treated in prison.

“The sad thing is that no one will be held accountable for pushing him and his family to such a catastrophic end,” he said.

Saibaba was a popular colleague in the Delhi University literary fraternity. This popularity stems from his dedication as a teacher and his dedication to issues of democratic rights and civil liberties, Ghosh said.

It took Saibaba 10 years to prove he was not guilty. He inspired many and his passing is a “great loss”, said AU Professor Abha Dev.

“One can only try to imagine his difficulties with a 90 percent disability. The country doesn’t know how to celebrate these stories to inspire others, but it fears the truth it speaks,” Dev said.

Another DU professor, Monami, said Saibaba’s friends and well-wishers were disheartened by the news of his death.

“He came out a few months ago and left so soon. But he was a mentally strong person,” she said.

Saibaba was lodged in the Nagpur Central Jail since 2017 after his conviction by a trial court in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra. Before that, he was in prison from 2014 to 2016 and was later released on bail.

After his acquittal, wheelchair-bound Saibaba left Nagpur Central Jail after 10 years.

Saibaba had claimed in August this year that authorities did not take him to hospital for nine months despite paralysis on the left side of his body and that he was just given painkillers in Nagpur Central Jail.

Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, Saibaba had earlier said that authorities had warned him that if he did not stop “talking”, he would be arrested in a false case. PTI VVK GDK ROH SHB VIT HIG DB KH

This report is automatically generated from PTI news service. ThePrint assumes no responsibility for its content.