Labour rights activist Nodeep Kaur’s bail plea hearing today

The case of dalit labour rights activist Nodeep Kaur, currently lodged in Karnal jail in Haryana, will be up for a bail plea hearing today at the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The 23-year-old activist is a member of the Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan and is a resident of Giadarh village in Punjab’s Muktsar district.

Along with others, she was arrested for allegedly gheraoing an industrial unit and “demanding money from the company” in Haryana’s Sonipat district on January 12.

She had claimed that she was severely beaten up at a police station after her arrest by the Sonipat police. In the bail plea filed through her counsels Arshdeep Singh Cheema and Harinder Deep Singh Bains, Kaur stated that she was falsely arraigned as accused in an FIR lodged under various sections, including 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC.

In her petition, the labour rights activist claimed that she was “targeted and falsely implicated” in the case as she was successful in generating massive support for the ongoing farmer movement against the Centre’s three new farm laws.

The High Court on February 13 had taken a suo motu cognisance of the matter pertaining to Kaur’s alleged illegal confinement and had issued a notice of motion to the Haryana government for its reply by February 24.

One of the highest-profile supporters of Kaur was US Vice President Kamala Harris’s niece Meena Harris. She had tweeted: “23-year-old labor rights activist Nodeep Kaur was arrested, tortured & sexually assaulted in police custody. She’s been detained without bail for over 20 days.” Meena had also tweeted a hashtag calling for the release of Nodeep Kaur.