SC grants five-day bail to journalist to visit ailing mother in Kerala

The Supreme Court of India on Monday granted 5-day bail to journalist Siddique Kappan, arrested on his way to Hathras where a young Dalit woman had died after being allegedly gang-raped, to visit his ailing mother.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, however, said that during his visit he shall not give any interview to the media, including social media.

The bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, said that Siddique will not meet members of the public except his relatives and doctors concerned.

It said Siddique will be escorted by a team of Uttar Pradesh police officers and police at Kerala will cooperate with them.

Kappan was arrested on October 5, 2020 while he was on his way to Hathras, home to the 19-year-old Dalit woman who died after being allegedly gang-raped by four upper-caste men on September 14.

Her cremation at night by the authorities, allegedly without the parents’ consent, had triggered widespread outrage.

The police had said it has arrested four people having alleged links with the PFI in Mathura and identified the arrested persons as Siddique from Malappuram, Atiq-ur Rehman from Muzaffarnagar, Masood Ahmed from Bahraich and Alam from Rampur.