Lucknow: Journalist Siddique Kappan, who went to collect news regarding the death of a woman caught in sexual violence, after 28 months of struggle, UP. He is out of jail.
In October 2020, a 20-year-old Dalit woman was sexually assaulted in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. The woman was admitted to a Delhi hospital and died 15 days later.
Protests were held against the Chief Minister Adityanath government condemning the incident. Siddique Kappan, a reporter from Kerala went to Hathras to gather news about this. He was sent to U.P. Police arrested. Opposition parties and civil society organizations condemned the Uttar Pradesh government’s arrest of Siddiqui to avoid negative news about the Hathras rape incident.
The UP police claimed that Siddiqui and others arrested were members of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and its student wing. Siddiqui was charged with sedition under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Siddiqui was accused of receiving money from the PFI.
Siddiqui denied the allegations. The Supreme Court granted bail to Siddiqui in September last year as no formal charges were framed against him. He also got bail after 3 months in the money laundering case. However, he was not released from prison due to several reasons. After 28 months of struggle Siddiqui UP. He was released from jail the day before yesterday.
In an interview, he said: I will continue to fight against harsh repressive laws. Even after getting bail, I was kept in jail. I was released after 28 months of struggle. I don’t know who benefited from my imprisonment. These 2 years were very tough. But I was not afraid. Said Siddiqui.
