Kerala CM asks UP’s Yogi Adityanath to ensure jailed Covid positive journalist Siddique Kappan is treated humanely; 11 Kerala MP draw attention of SC to Kappan’s condition

KERALA Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Sunday wrote to his Uttar Pradesh (UP) counterpart Yogi Adityanath requesting him to accord humane treatment to Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, who is presently facing charges under UAPA and has recently tested positive for Covid19.

The letter came after Siddique's wife wrote to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) alleging that her husband was chained like an animal to a cot in the Medical College Hospital, Mathura, without mobility, and that he had been unable to eat or go to the toilet for more than four days and was now in a very critical condition.

Apart from the CM, 11 Members of Parliament (MP) from Kerala have also written to the Chief Justice of India saying that Kappan should be shifted to AIIMS. They have also requested the CJI to urgently hear habeas corpus plea seeking his release.

Kappan was arrested last year by the UP police for allegedly having links with the PFI, which is not a banned organization.

The UP Police alleged that Kappan and the three other accused who were traveling with him, were part of a "conspiracy" to inflame religious enmity over the Hathras rape case.

A habeas corpus plea seeking the release of Kappan is still pending in the Supreme Court. On February 15, the court allowed Kappan to travel to Kerala to meet his ailing mother for five days.