Journalist Kappan walks out of jail after two years
TRIVANDRUM:AUTHORITIES on Thursday released journalist Siddique Kappan from prison 850 days ater his arrest while travelling to report an alleged rape of a 20-year-old woman.
The police in the northern state of Utar Pradesh arrested him in October 2020 while on his way to report the tragic death of a young Dalit woman ater the gang rape.
The incident triggered outrage ater the opposition alleged that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Bharatiya Janata Party were shielding the four upper-caste rapists.
Police accused Kappan and three men, who were travelling with him in a car to Hathras, of conspiring to create law and order trouble and incite violence.
In September, the Supreme Court of India granted him bail but he remained behind bars as the authorities also charged him with money laundering.
He moved to the Allahabad High Court soon and obtained bail in December. But it took another month for him to finally walk out of jail.
The police had arrested Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka, on their way to meet the family of the victim who died at a hospital in Delhi a fortnight later.
The police had not allowed the family to give her a decent burial and they cremated her in the middle of the night triggering widespread outrage across the country.
“This is half-baked justice. Journalism is not a crime. I will continue my fight against draconian laws,” Kappan said ater his release.
“I don’t know who’s benefiting from my being in jail. These two years were very tough, but I was never afraid.”
He faces charges of sedition and was detained under the tough Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act used against terror suspects.
In February last year, the Enforcement Directorate, investigating economic offences, charged him with receiving money from the People’s Front of India (PFI).
The outlawed radical group, Kappan’s family and lawyer and the Kerala Union of Working Journalists which appealed against his imprisonment have denied it.
Journalists, rights activists and opposition politicians welcomed his release and condemned long imprisonment on charges not proven.
“Tragic,” senior journalist and commentator Rajdeep Sardesai tweeted.
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