Hathras gangrape case: SC allows 5-day bail to journalist Siddique Kappan to visit his mother

Kerala-based journalist Siddique Kappan, who was jailed on the way to Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, was on February 15 granted five days’ conditional bail by the Supreme Court to visit his ailing mother.

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.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, however, said during his visit he shall not give any interview to the media, including social media, reported news agency PTI.

The bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, said Siddique would not meet members of the public except his relatives and doctors concerned.

In November, the Supreme Court sought response of the Uttar Pradesh government on a plea challenging his arrest. A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian asked the counsel for the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) as to why it has not approached the Allahabad High Court and came to it straight away.

--With inputs from PTI.