SIDDIQ KAPPAN
I’m Siddiq Kappan.43 year old.I’m a journalist,writer,entrepreneur from Kerala,India.
On 5 October 2020, me, along with three others, were traveling to Hathras to report on the 2020 Hathras gang rape and murdrer. Our car was stopped at a toll plaza in Mathura and all four were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police. I was arrested while on my way to Hathras to report on the story of the 19-year-old Dalit woman who died after being allegedly gang-raped by four men. The First Information Report submitted against me in Mathura court charged against me with Section 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, etc) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Information Technology Act. In February 2021, I received five days' interim bail to visit my ailing mother, Khadeeja Kutty,The bail allowed only for my close family to meet me. My mother later passed away in June 2021, after succumbing to illnesses.
In April 2021, I tested positive for COVID-19. I was shifted to a hospital within the prison premises in Mathura. When my health worsened, I was moved to K.M Medical College in Mathura, where the attending doctors declared me "COVID negative". I was then returned to Mathura jail. After the intervention of the Supreme Court, I was relocated to the ALL INDIA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCINCESES for further treatment.In May 2021, I tested positive for COVID-19 again
On 9 September 2022, the Supreme Court of India granted bail to me. In his order, the Chief Justice of India, UU Llith asked me to report to the police in Delhi for the next six weeks and later in Kerala.
On 13 September 2022, the prison department said that I will continue to stay in a Lucknow jail, as a probe against me by the Enforcment Dioctorate is underway.
On 23 December 2022, I got bail from the Allahbad High Court in the case filed by ED under PMLA.