India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI—Raihanath Siddique, wife of journalist Siddique Kappan imprisoned in Mathura Jail, has alleged that the UP police is torturing her husband in jail.
She levelled the allegations while speaking at a press conference at Kozhikode in Kerala on Tuesday.
The press conference was organized by the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ). Raihanath and her brother Hamza also appealed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to intervene in the matter.
Raihanath and Hamza told journalists that they will start a dharna in front of the state secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram in the first week of January to bring pressure on CM to take up the issue with his UP counterpart and seek release of Kappan.
The UP police, they said, told Kappan that he would be saved if he deposed that he was sent to Hathras by CPM and he could name any of CPM MPs. Kappan, according to Rehanath and Hamza, was also asked as to why did Rahul Gandhi visit his house and if he ate beef.
Raihanath said that Kappan was assaulted by the police when he said that he was going to Hathras for reporting and not on behalf of CPM or any other leader. Kappan also told police that Rahul Gandhi had not visited his house but he (Kappan) had himself gone to Wayanad to meet Rahul Gandhi.
Kappan was arrested by UP police on October 5 when he was on his way to Hathras to cover the gangrape and murder of Hathras Dalit girl. He was booked on several charges, including UAPA. He was working as a freelance journalist for several Malayali language websites.
He is also general secretary of Kerala Union of Working Journalists(KUWJ), Delhi chapter.
KUWJ is fighting his case in the Supreme Court.
