Delhi-based Keralite journalist Sidhique Kappan's wife Raihanath said on Monday that she has not been allowed to meet or speak to her husband who has been languishing in UP police custody for over a month now.
Talking to reporters here on Monday, Ms. Raihanath sought Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's urgent intervention to get her husband released.
Mr. Kappan has neither been allowed to meet his family nor interact with his lawyer, she alleged. “I have a right to know where my husband is. Our children have a right to know where he is,” a distraught Ms. Raihanath said, adding that she was concerned about her husband’s health condition.
The Supreme Court has listed the case for hearing on November 16, she said..
After the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) moved the Supreme Court, Mr. Kappan was allowed to speak to his aged mother, who lived with his brother, over phone on November 2, Ms. Raihanath said.
“'I was told that he spoke to her for about five minutes and that he said he was fine. But I have not been given an opportunity to see him or speak to him,”' she said.
Mr. Kappan, who works for the news portal azhimukham.com, and three others were arrested on October 5 while he was on his way to cover the Hathras rape incident. They were later booked under Section 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code, Sections 14 and 17 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA); and Sections 65, 72 and 76 of the Information Technology Act.
According to his wife, Mr. Kappan had merely boarded a vehicle that was immediately available for travelling to Hathras.
“'We need the support of the Chief Minister (Pinarayi Vijayan). My husband has not done anything wrong. He was on his way to perform his duty as a journalist,” she said.
She termed the accusations levelled against her husband as baseless, adding that she placed full trust in the Supreme Court. Although she had submitted a petition to Rahul Gandhi seeking support, it was not clear whether any follow-up action was taken, she added.
KUWJ State president K. P. Reji said a favourable intervention was expected from the Court. Mr. Reji also called for stronger efforts to draw more public attention to Mr. Kappan's plight. The struggle will continue until Mr. Kappan is released, he said.
