It's arguably a uniquely Indian phenomenon. The moment someone who has a considerable following finds himself in hot water and has to face the court of law, it seems to trigger a mysterious malady which propels him to a hospital bed from which he doesn't get up for days and weeks.
An actor is charged with pistol-butting and burning his wife with cigarette butts and it is this under-trial who has a prolonged stay in a hospital bed at State expense. His wife, bearing battle scars of a visibly abusive marriage, has a truncated stay in her sick bed.
Darshan Toogudeepa continues to lie curled up at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases after he complained of wheezing and related problems. Doctors in attendance say he has previously undetected asthma as well as jaundice.
The actor is only following the path trod by other headline-making names.
Rapid recovery
Hartal Halappa, a former Minister in the B.S. Yeddyurappa Cabinet, was arrested by CID sleuths in May 2010 for allegedly raping a friend's wife in Shimoga. He promptly took to bed in a local hospital after his arrest from where he was shifted to the VVIP ward at Victoria Hospital in Bangalore for “advanced treatment”. As soon as he was granted bail, sure enough he staged a rapid recovery.
Y. Sampangi, the Kolar MLA caught red-handed by Lokayukta sleuths allegedly taking bribe, was arrested and sent to jail in January 2009. Within hours, he turned up at Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology from where he was discharged — surprise, surprise — immediately after getting bail.
Double whammy
Mr. Yeddyurappa's former colleague, Katta Subramanya Naidu and Mr. Naidu's councillor-son, Katta Jagadish, were arrested in August 2011 by Lokayukta sleuths and despatched to Parappana Agrahara Central Prison on the charge of forgery and cheating in the KIADB land scam. Within a few days, Mr. Katta Subramanya Naidu was ensconced in an air-conditioned room of the VVIP ward at Victoria Hospital after he complained of stomach pain. His sugar levels jumped and neuro-spinal problem aggravated. Doctors are now treating him for cancer.
Mr. Yeddyurappa himself, recently asked to appear before the Lokayukta court, also sought exemption on health grounds and headed for Sagar Hospitals where he was discovered to have temporary amnesia among other conditions.
The usual
His predecessor H.D. Kumaraswamy sought the same privilege saying he was diabetic and had heart and stress-related problems.
And, thanks to the miracles of modern medicine, as soon as they get bail, they all spring from their hospital bed bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
