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Siddique Kappan Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More

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Wife: Raihanath Kappan
Age: 42 Years
Religion: Islam

Siddique Kappan

Bio/Wiki
Other name(s)• Sidheeq Kappan
• Sidhique Kappan [1]BBC
ProfessionJournalist
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)in centimeters- 173 cm
in meters- 1.73 m
in feet & inches- 5’ 8”
Weight (approx.)in kilograms- 55 kg
in pounds- 121 lbs
Eye ColourBlack
Hair ColourBlack
Personal Life
Date of Birthyear, 1980
Age (as of 2022)42 Years
BirthplaceKerala
NationalityIndian
ReligionIslam [2]The Indian Express
Food HabitNon-vegetarian [3]The Siasat Daily
ControversyPrisoned for Reporting on the 2020 Hathras Gang Rape Case
On 14 September 2020, a 19-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by four men in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. On 29 September 2020, after the death of the victim, the Uttar Pradesh police cremated her body without the permission of her family members, which stirred controversy. [4]The Print On 5 October 2020, Siddique Kappan was on his way to Hathras, along with Ateeq-ur-Rehman, Masood Ahmed, and Alam, to cover the news of the rape case. Uttar Pradesh police stopped their car at a Mathura toll plaza and arrested all four of them for for alleged “apprehension of breach of peace.” [5]The Quint Siddique Kappan was charged with Section 124A, 153A, and 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (1967 UAPA), and the Information Technology Act (2000 IT Act).
Timeline of Siddique Kappan's case
On 9 September 2022, the Supreme Court of India granted him bail; however, the then Chief Justice of India, U. U. Lalit, asked him to give his daily updates to the UP police the next six weeks in Kerala; however, he could not go to Kerala as on 13 September 2022, he was charged with money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate for irregular transactions of only Rs 5000. In an interview, he revealed that he was shocked after he came to know that he was accused of money laundering since the legal procedure takes place when the proceeds are Rs 1 crore or more. He called the charges baseless, which would not stand in any court. He said,
"It came as a shock to me that I was accused of laundering money. Even the Allahabad High Court, while granting me bail, said that only irregular transactions of Rs 5,000 were alleged against me. An ED only has jurisdiction when the proceeds are Rs 1 crore or more. I was framed and kept in jail on charges which are totally baseless and won’t stand in any court." [6]The Indian Express
On 23 December 2022, he was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court in the money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
On 2 February 2023, after spending more than 2 years in prison, he was released from Lucknow Jail.
Siddique Kappan coming out of Lucknow Jail
Relationships & More
Marital StatusMarried
Family
Wife/SpouseRaihanath Kappan
Siddique Kappan with Raihanath Kappan
ChildrenSon(s)- Muzammil Kappan (elder), Zidhan Kappan
Daughter- Mehnaz Kappan
Siddique Kappan's wife and his children
ParentsFather- Name not known
Mother- Khadeeja Kutty (died in 2021 due to age related age-related illness at the age of 90) [7]India Today
Siddique Kappan's mother
SiblingsHe has a brother.
Money Factor
Salary (approx.)In a 2021 interview, he revealed that his monthly salary while he was working at ‘Gulf Thejas Daily’ was Rs 26,500 and at Azhimukham was Rs 25,000. When he was working for Prasadgan as a freelancer, he used to receive Rs 2000 per article. [8]Newslaundry

Siddique Kappan

Some Lesser Known Facts About Siddique Kappan

  • Siddique Kappan is an Indian Journalist, who was arrested on his way to Hathras, where he was going to cover the 2020 Hathra gang rape case of a 19-year-old Dalit girl.
  • In 2009, he began working as a journalist at ‘Gulf Thejas Daily’. later, he joined Azhimukham, an independent Malayalam news portal, where he worked as a regular contributor. [9]The Print
  • According to sources, he reports on the news related to crime, human rights, politics, and government persecution of journalists. He also worked as a freelancer for Prasadgan, a monthly Malayalam magazine.
  • In 2013, he shifted to Delhi and began to work at the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ). Later, he became the secretary of the Delhi unit of secretary of Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ).
  • On 5 October 2020, when he was arrested by the UP police, he was kept in custody for questioning where he was reportedly assaulted by the police. On 21 November 2020, Siddique Kappan and Wills Mathews, a lawyer of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) had a half-an-hour meeting. Later, KUWJ filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court of India citing observations from the meeting which mentioned –

    He was beaten with a lathi three times on his thigh, slapped three times after taking out the spectacles, dragged, forced to stay awake from 6 pm to 6 am depriving him of sleep, without proper medicines, along with serious mental torture from October 5 to October 6, 2020.” [10]The Wire

  • After he was arrested in the 2020 Hathras gang rape case, he was defended in court by lawyer Mohamed Dhanish. [11]The Indian Express
  • In February 2021, he was allowed an interim bail of five days to meet his ailing mother. he was allowed to meet only his close family members. [12]The News Minute
  • He tested positive for COVID-19 in April 2021 and was shifted to a hospital within the premises of the Mathura Jail for treatment. After his health got worse, he was admitted to K.M Medical College in Mathura for further treatment. On 27 April 2021, when he tested negative for COVID-19, he was taken back to the prison in Mathura; however, on 28 April 2021, Supreme Court directed to shift him to AIIMS Delhi. On 30 April 2021, he was shifted to AIIMS Delhi for better treatment. [13]The Times of India In May 2021, he again tested positive for COVID-19.
  • In July 2021, many international news organisations protested against his arrest by the Uttar Pradesh police in the 2020 Hathras gang rape case and demanded his release. In an interview, Scott Griffen, IPI Deputy Director of the International Press Institute (IPI), an international network that aims to protect press freedom, spoke against his arrest and said that IPI condemned the arrest of Siddique Kappan and the “unacceptable ill-treatment” towards him. He said,

    We are extremely concerned that Mr Kappan was targeted and detained due to his journalistic activity. In the absence of evidence justifying these accusations, all charges against Mr Kappan must be immediately dropped. The growing targeting of critical journalists in India is extremely concerning. All journalists in the country must be able to safely cover events in the public interest, without fear of harassment, detention or discrimination.” [14]The News Minute

  • In October 2021, the Press Club of India, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists, and the Delhi Union of Journalists at the Press Club organised a meeting titled ‘Black Day Protest’ meeting to protest against the arrest of Siddique Kappan and demand his release from jail.

  • In an interview, Raihanath Kappan, Siddique’s wife, revealed that UP police harassed him when he admitted that he eats beef. She alleged that the police tortured him physically and mentally, and the authorities did not provide him with medicines for diabetes. [15]BBC She said,

    He was asked by UP police if he used to eat beef. He said yes and was beaten up. Our family was not informed of his arrest, and we saw it on the news.” [16]The Siasat Daily

  • In an interview, he shared that when he was in jail, he was not given access to Malayalam and English language books and was told to read Hindi books only. Later, with the help of his lawyer, he was allowed to read Malayalam and English language books.
  • On 15 August 2022, Mehnaz Kappan, Siddique Kappan’s daughter, took to her school stage to give a speech on the occasion of India’s 76th Independence Day. At the beginning of the speech, she talked about her father being locked up in a dark room of the jail. She said,

    I am Mehnaz Kappan. Daughter of journalist Siddique Kappan, a citizen who has been forced into a dark room by breaking all of the freedom of a citizen.” [17]The Quint

 

  • In an interview, when he was asked why he went to Hathras to report on the 2020 Hathras gang-rape of a 19-year-old Dalit girl by four men, he said that he found the case special and interesting as the dead body of the girl was cremated without the approval and presence of her family members. [18]YouTube – BBC News Hindi
  • According to some reports, the Uttar Pradesh government alleged that Siddique Kappan had links with the Popular Front of India (PFI), an Islamic political organisation in India; however, in 2022, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs banned the organisation for 5 years.
  • In an interview, he revealed that everyone tried to make him believe that the major reason for his arrest by the UP police was that he was a Muslim, however, he believed that he is a journalist and belongs to Kerala was the reason why he was arrested. [19]The Indian Express
  • In an interview, after he was released from jail on 2 February 2023, he said that he had to stay in jail for over a month after he got bail in December 2022. He said that journalism is not a crime, and he will continue to fight for justice,

    This is half-baked justice. Journalism is not a crime. I will continue my fight against draconian laws. They kept me in jail even after I got bail… 28 months after a long fight. I don’t know who’s benefiting from my being in jail. These two years were very tough, but I was never afraid.” [20]NDTV

 

  • In an interview, he revealed his future plans and said that he would continue to work as a journalist in an organisation.

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