Journalist Siddique Kappan was arrested was by the Uttar Pradesh police on October 5, while he was on his way to Hathras to report the alleged gang-rape and murder of a 19- year old Dalit woman.

Siddique Kappan, a Delhi-based journalist and secretary of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) Delhi unit was working for a Malayalam portal Azhimukham. Kappan, along with three others was arrested from Mathura and the police have alleged that they were conspiring to disrupt peace in the area. All four were booked under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and were slapped with sedition charges.

Kappan's wife Rahyanath says she fails to understand why her husband’s arrest did not evoke the same uproar as that of the recent detention of Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami. She pointed out that many people have compared Goswami’s arrest with the Emergency period but remain to be tight-lipped about her husband’s arrest. “Why such double standards? The same ministers were silent on my pleas and letters demanding Kappan’s release,” says the 35-year-old.

The lawyers representing KUWJ were denied permission by the Mathura court, when they tried to meet Kappan on October 16. “The Mathura court first asked us to go to jail and meet Kappan there. But the jail authorities insisted on CJM's order. When we went back to the court, they made us wait and our application was rejected late in the evening,” said Mathews, KUWJ lawyer.

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