"Not only did they torture me, but they also asked me absurd questions in custody. They questioned whether I ever visited Pakistan or whether I used to eat beef," the journalist said.
The journalist's time in jail – especially as he sought life-saving treatment during the pandemic – had invoked stern statements from journalists' bodies and rights organisations the world over.
Kappan and three others were arrested in October 2020 while they were going to the Uttar Pradesh town, Hathras, to report on the high profile case where a Dalit woman died after being gang-raped
"I struggled," Kerala journalist Siddique Kappan said minutes after he walked out of jail on Thursday to camera crews, a small curious crowd and to his wife and teen son, waiting patiently.