Family Visits Sarabjit, Pak Gives More Access

Lahore: The family of Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh was allowed a glimpse of him from a distance at the hospital, where he is being treated after a brutal assault in a Pakistani jail. Doctors have said the changes of survival of Singh, who remains in coma, are slim.

More than 45 hours after Sarabjit was admitted to Jinnah Hospital with a severe head injury, there has been "no sign" of recovery, doctors were quoted as saying by sources. The 49-year-old's central nervous system has been badly damaged.

A senior doctor at the hospital said Sarabjit's sister Dalbir Kaur, wife Sukhpreet Kaur and daughters Swapandeep and Poonam were allowed to see him through a window from outside the intensive care unit. Apart from medical reasons, security concerns are believed to have governed the decision.

Sukhpreet appealed to the Pakistani authorities to send him back to India for better treatment.

Meanwhile, the two main accused in Friday's attack on Sarabjit told investigators they planned to kill him to take revenge for the bombings he was accused of carrying out in Lahore in 1990.

Indian High Commission officials visited Sarabjit for the second time in as many days after permission for "second counsular access" was granted by Pakistani authorities following an initial denial. India had sought "regular consular access" so that its officials could track Sarabjit's treatment.

Foreign office spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said family members will be able to visit Sarabjit whenever they want.

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