Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday requested his Uttar Pradesh counterpart to intervene and ensure that Journalist Siddique Kappan, presently in custody under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA ) in the northern state, be provided expert health care.
In a letter to Yogi Adityanath, Pinarayi Vijayan said the Kerala Union of Working Journalists and some prominent media persons had brought to his attention that Siddique Kappan, who hailed from the southern state, suffered from heart ailments and had tested positive for COVID-19, due to which he was facing health issues.
Siddique Kappan had been admitted to KVM hospital in Mathura and had reportedly been kept chained to his bed even when his health condition had become precarious, Pinarayi Vijayan said in the letter, a copy of which was released to the media.
Expert health care should be provided and he should be shifted to another super speciality hospital, where modern life-saving facilities are ensured, it was stated.
The move comes on a day when 11 MPs of the opposition Congress-led UDF sought the intervention of Supreme Court Chief Justice N V Ramana for an urgent hearing of the case of Delhi-based Siddique Kappan, who was arrested last October while he was on his way to Hathras, where a young Dalit woman died after being allegedly gang-raped.
Siddique Kappan's wife Raihana also sought Pinarayi Vijayan's intervention in the matter.
She alleged that her husband was chained to his cot and was not given food for four days and his condition was deteriorating.
