Journalist Siddique Kappan has been infected with coronavirus in the Uttar Pradesh prison, his wife Raihana Siddique wrote on Facebook.
Kappan is lodged in Mathura Jail in Uttar Pradesh under the draconian UAPA, after he was arrested in Hathras, in October last year while he was traveling from Delhi to cover the story of the brutal gang-rape and murder of a Dalit woman by upper-caste Hindu men.
Kappan has been shifted to jail hospital after his health condition deteriorated.
His wife wrote that she was informed about her husband’s condition through the lawyer Wills Mathews.
Two weeks ago, the Uttar Pradesh Police filed a 5,000-page charge sheet against Kappan, and other Muslim youths who were arrested along with him.
Along with UAPA, they are slapped with IT Act and other serious charges for alleged conspiracy for inciting communal clashes.
Kappan is a freelance journalist who has been extensively covering politics, crime, and current affairs for several Kerala based news outlets including Azhimukham, Thejas Daily and Thalsamayam Midday Daily. He is also the secretary of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists.
Many international media unions, opposition leaders, and human rights organizations have been constantly raising concerns against the arrest of Kappan and have demanded his immediate release.
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