Had to become journalist & lawyer to help Kappan, says arrested journalist's wife

Siddique Kappan's wife Raihanath is hoping that after nearly two years in prison, her husband will finally be granted bail. Siddique Kappan is a jailed journalist from Kerala. Kappan's bail request was set for final disposal on September 9 by a Supreme Court panel that included Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice S Ravindra Bhat. Siddique Kappan, a Malayali journalist working out of Delhi, was taken into custody on October 5, 2020. He remains incarcerated to this day. Siddique Kappan was only given bail once, so he could visit his ailing mother in February 2021. In June of that year, Khadeeja Kutty, his mother, passed away.

Raihanath tells TNM from their house at Vengara in Malappuram district, "It has already been two years. For us who are living outside, it may not be a long time period, but it's tough for someone in jail. It is no good if we get justice after so many years". To conduct the case and briefly speak with Kappan, Raihanath has been travelling to Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. "I was confined to my family till October 2020. But I had to step out after the arrest of Kappan, so that he could get justice. Our family had no idea about what court cases were. In many ways, I have had a host of experiences that I was completely unaware of, earlier. I had no option but to become a journalist and a lawyer to conduct the case for Kappan. I have been learning what a case is and what court proceedings are," Raihanath says.

She recalls the date of his imprisonment as the last occasion for their customary daily phone contact, which occurred on October 4, 2020. As Kappan had diabetes, Raihanath would monitor if he had eaten or taken his medication. She became worried on October 5 when her calls and messages went unanswered. She learned that Kappan had been taken into custody the following morning via a family friend. Even at that point, she believed he would soon be released and was informed as much by his media buddies. "But later I came to know that UAPA charges were imposed on him. Now I have realised how imposing charges of UAPA on someone would affect a family," she says.