Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has urged his UP counterpart Yogi Adityanath to ensure the humane treatment of Malayali journalist Siddique Kappan who was held under the UAPA.
Kappan, who was arrested on Oct. 5, 2020 while he was proceeding to Hathras, tested Covid-19 positive and was admitted to a hospital in Mathura.
Kappan's wife Raihanath alleged that he was being chained like an animal to a cot at the hospital and was not even allowed to go to the toilet. Instead, he was provided a can to urinate in and was not able to take food. She also lamented that the Kerala Chief Minister was not intervening in the family's plight.
A group of MPs from Kerala and Kappan's wife had also written to the Chief Justice of India N V Ramana seeking an urgent intervention. A request seeking to expedite further steps of a Habeas Corpus petition was also sent to the Chief Justice.
Vijayan said in the letter to the UP Chief Minister that it was brought to his attention by some prominent journalists and Kerala Union of Working Journalists that Kappan was facing serious health problems and was chained to his bed at a hospital in Mathura and his health condition was precarious.
Vijayan urged that Kappan be shifted to another superspecialty hospital considering his health problems. The public and the media fraternity are anxious to know about his health, whether his human rights were being infringed upon, and are very concerned about his plight, he said in the letter.
Published 25 April 2021, 17:15 IST