An offended State

January 18, 2022 15:15

"In a much-publicized case in Uttar Pradesh, a freelancer for a news portal apprehended in October 2020 entered his 15th month of incarceration this month, even as his case was transferred to a special court in Lucknow in December.

"Siddique Kappan was arrested on October 5 while he was on his way to Hathras, home to the young Dalit woman who died after being allegedly gang-raped by four upper-caste men in September 2020. Her cremation at night by the authorities, allegedly without the parents' consent, had triggered outrage. Kappan was not the only journalist heading for Hathras at that point.

"He was freelancing for a news portal and had hitched a ride to Hathras with student activists of the Popular Front of India whom he knew. That association has added much grist to the 5,000 page chargesheet produced by the UP police and the inquiry of the Special Task Force in the intervening months. "

Sevanti Ninan on the police as the arbiters of communication. Read the column here.

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