A local court in Haryana has granted bail to Dalit rights activist Shiv Kumar in all the three cases lodged against him, Live Law reported. He got bail in the first two cases on Wednesday, and in the final one on Thursday.
Kumar is an associate of activist Nodeep Kaur. Both of them were arrested in January on charges of extortion, theft and attempt to murder after they mobilised workers near Singhu border, which is the epicentre of farmer protests against the three agriculture laws. Kaur and her colleagues from the Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan had staged a demonstration in the Kundli industrial area on January 12, near Singhu, outside a factory that had not paid wages to its workers.
Kaur was released from jail last week, after the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted her bail in the third case registered against her on February 26. She got bail in the first two cases on February 12 and February 15.
After her release, Kaur had urged people to demand the release of Kumar, saying that he was not even present at the protest site on January 12, and yet was arrested and thrashed brutally.
Kaur’s allegations of Kumar’s custodial torture were supported by a medical report submitted by the Government Medical College and Hospital in Chandigarh to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The report has shown that Kumar has sustained eight injuries, including multiple fractures, that are more than two weeks old.
In her third bail plea, Kaur too had alleged that she was severely beaten and tortured in police custody. The activist stated that she was “targeted and falsely implicated” because she had been successful in generating support for the farmers’ movement.
Kaur’s had also alleged that she was sexually assaulted by the police. However, the police have refuted the charges.
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