Mother of Jailed Kerala Journalist Siddique Kappan Dies At 90

New Delhi, 19 June 2021 [Fik/News Sources]: The mother of incarcerated Kerala journalist Siddique Kapan, who has been lodged in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura Jail, passed away on Friday. Khadeeja Kutty was 90.

“She breathed her last at her home in Vengara Malappuram,” a source close to the family confirmed to Clarion India. ‘She died of age-related complications.”

Kappan’s lawyer Wills Mathew told Clarion India that his hearing for bail is scheduled for next week on June 22.

Kappan was arrested along with three members of Campus Front of India, a student organisation, eight months ago in October last year when they were on way to Hathras to report about the gang-rape and murder of a Dalit woman.

The police accused them of hatching a conspiracy to defame the Uttar Pradesh government which was facing severe criticism over the shocking gang rape and murder of the Dalit woman. The police slapped serious charges under the draconian anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, against Kappan and three others.

On Wednesday, the court dropped charges related to apprehension of breach of peace against Kappan and his three associates. The court took the decision because police failed to complete the inquiry against them within the prescribed period of six months.

In February, on compassionate grounds Kappan was given a five-day reprieve by the Supreme Court to visit home to see his ailing mother. Before that he was allowed to talk to her on video call.