Siddique Kappan, Kerala Journalist Contracts Coronavirus In Jail, Admitted To Hospital; Inmates In Jail Test Positive

Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan, who has been under arrest since October last year, tested positive for Covid-19. He has been admitted to a hospital. According to his lawyer, Wills Mathews, Kappan was admitted to the KM Medical College in Mathura April 21 morning, reported ThePrint. Mathews told ThePrint that besides Kappan, 50 other inmates from Mathura jail have also tested positive for the virus. Kappan was arrested on October 5 2020, along with three others, while he was on his way to Hathras to report on the alleged gang rape & death of a Dalit woman. A five-member team of Uttar Pradesh Police’s Special Task Force (STF) filed a charge sheet against him & seven others in a Mathura court on April 3, accusing them of sedition & allegedly attempting to incite violence in Uttar Pradesh. The court has set May 1 as the next date for hearing the case.