Bail for dalit, labour activist Nodeep Kaur

Labour activist Nodeep Kaur has been granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court this morning. Nodeep Kaur was arrested on January 12, while protesting with labourers at the Kundli border of Delhi.

She was arrested for protesting with labourers demanding higher wages, while at the same time expressing solidarity with the farmers protesting on the outskirts of Delhi, against three farm laws introduced by the Union Government.

The police slammed her with charges of murder, theft, rioting, unlawful assembly, extortion and criminal intimidation. She was granted bail in cases of extortion and criminal intimidation.

Twenty-three-year-old Nodeep Kaur is a known dalit and labour activist. She is lodged in the Karnal jail in Haryana since her arrest. Her arrest attracted international attention, with Meena Harris, the niece of US Vie-President Kamala Harris tweeting, “23-year-old labour rights activist Nodeep Kaur was arrested, tortured and sexually assaulted in police custody.”

Nodeep Kaur had alleged sexual harassment by the Haryana police, a charge denied by the authorities concerned.

The bail was granted by Justice Avneesh Jhingan. The court said, “The petitioner is in custody since 12.01.2021. Albeit the matter is under investigation, but that itself would not be sufficient ground to deny personal liberty to the petitioner.” It stated that whether the thin line circumscribing the right to peaceful protest was crossed by the bail applicant was a matter of trial. The court further said that the material placed on record before the court by the police to invoke various sections of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was “debatable”.

Rajveer Kaur, the sister of Nodeep Kaur alleged outside the court that Nodeep Kaur has been beaten up in the police station by the male staff and has been “sexually assaulted”. “There are injuries in her private parts,” she stated adding that strict action needs to be taken in the matter.