Imprisoned Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan activist Nodeep Kaur has claimed in her bail plea before the Punjab and Haryana High Court that she was severely beaten up at a police station at the time of her arrest last month in Sonipat, reports PTI.
The 24-year-old Kaur, a Dalit labour rights activist and member of Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan (MAS), was arrested from the Singhu border on 12 January, where she was part of the ongoing farmers’ protest against the Centre’s contentious farm laws.
According to the PTI report, she has also reportedly claimed that her medical examination was not conducted, a violation of section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Kaur, a native of Muktsar district in Punjab, has alleged physical and sexual abuse at the hands of the authorities since her arrest, but the police have denied these accusations.
There are three cases currently against Kaur, regarding protests for workers' rights she has been part of in the Kundli Industrial Area. She has been granted bail in two of the three cases and awaits bail in the third, while being lodged in Haryana’s Karnal jail.
The high court had adjourned the hearing on her bail plea on Monday, and posted the matter for 24 February, according to PTI.
What Does Her Bail Petition Say?
In her bail plea, Kaur has reportedly said that she was falsely named as accused in an FIR lodged under various sections, including 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC.
She claims that she was “targeted and falsely implicated” in the case because she was successful in mobilising labourers for a protest at Kundli in Sonipat district in support of the farmers’ agitation.
According to Kaur, a team from Kundli police station reached the site of the protests and grabbed her by her hair and dragged her to the side. She was then arrested by the police, taken to the police station where there was no woman police official present and was beaten up by police officials, the plea alleges.
Earlier too, Kaur’s sister Rajvir has claimed that the arrested activist was thrashed by Haryana police on her private parts. However, SP Jashandeep Singh Randhawa has denied Rajvir’s allegations of sexual assault on her sister and called them “baseless.”
(With inputs from PTI.)
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