Journalist Siddique Kappan gets 5-day interim bail to visit ailing mother in Kerala

New Delhi, Feb 11: The Supreme Court on Monday allowed journalist Siddique Kappan, who was arrested en route to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh to report on the alleged gang-rape of a Dalit woman, to visit his ailing mother in Kerala for five days.

The top court, in its order, restrained Kappan from giving any interview, including on social media, during his visit to Kerala.

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.