Woman threatened with deportation while in coma ‘still fearful’ despite being granted 12-month visa

‘If their objective is to maintain this hostile environment then they’ve achieved it, because we can’t relax yet’

A woman threatened with deportation while in a coma has been granted a 12-month visa after The Independent exposed her plight – but she fears for her future once the visa expires.

Bhavani Esapathi, 31, had been in a vegetative state for several days last September when she received a letter stating her application for leave to remain had been refused and that she was liable to be forcibly removed.

The Indian national’s fiancé, Martin Mangler, 33, appealed against the decision while she was still unconscious, providing medical letters from her doctors stating that her life would be at risk if she were to travel.

But the Home Office said that while the medical treatment she was receiving was “unlikely” to be available to the same standard in India, this did not entitle her to remain in the UK – and she could receive “palliative care” in her home country if the appropriate treatment wasn’t available there.

After going public with her case, the Indian national, who suffers from a complex form of Crohn’s disease and currently relies on a drip, has been issued a 12-month visa by the Home Office.

In a letter to Ms Esapathi, the department said: “Consideration has been given outside the immigration rules and, due to your particular circumstances, it has been confirmed that you require a period of leave to allow you to recover from surgery before undergoing further surgery for which you will require a further recovery period ... it has been decided to grant you a period of leave outside the rules on an exceptional basis.”

The 31-year-old, who came to the UK on a study visa in 2010 and worked in the arts industry before she fell ill, said that while she no longer felt fearful that someone would “come and get her”, as she did before, she feared what would happen in a year’s time. “Because it’s an incurable disease, I will need my medication indefinitely and it’s currently unavailable in India. They haven’t considered this. They’ve said – yes you can have your surgery, but we don’t take any responsibility for you living after that,” she said.

“It feels like they’re just trying to make us stop making noise. If their objective is to maintain this hostile environment and not let us be in peace then they’ve achieved it, because we can’t relax yet. It just shows that the Home Office aren’t capable – or simply don’t want to understand – how chronic diseases work. It’s not just about the surgery, it’s about me having lived here more than 10 years.”

A letter, submitted with her earlier application, from Ms Esapathi’s surgeons at St Mark’s Hospital stated that her “surgical and medical management is highly complex” and that it is “of vital importance” that her care continued to be coordinated and performed there. “This also means that, both now and after her surgery in 2019, Bhavani will not be able to travel due to her ongoing need for specialist care in our hospital as her recovery after her next operation is likely to be protracted and complex,” it adds.

Politicians and campaigners have called for the Home Office to reverse the decision and grant the Indian national the right to remain, while a petition under the hashtag #letbhavanilive has garnered more than 170,000 signatures from members of the public.

Ms Esapathi’s local MP Vicky Foxcroft said: “The government has wanted to create a hostile environment and this is precisely what they are doing: leaving people who are on life-saving drugs and having life-saving operations fearful of their future.

“The government needs to revisit its policies and practice towards people and realise that leaving people who came here to study and work, as Bhavani did, to live with this constant fear is inhumane.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “In March 2019, the Home Office was made aware of fresh evidence in this case and it was subsequently reviewed. The applicant has been granted leave to remain in the UK.”