labour rights activist Shiv kumar | SabrangIndia

Dalit activist Shiv Kumar says he was tortured in Haryana jail

Sat, 06 Mar 2021 10:19:55 +0000

Image Courtesy:telegraphindia.com

Just a few days ago, the Supreme Court issued directions to all states and Union Territories (UT) to comply with its December 2020 order of installing CCTV cameras in all police stations and investigation agencies. Through its order dated March 2, the top court also expressed its displeasure as both the Centre and the states/UTs failed to take the matter seriously.

A Bench comprising Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman, BR Gavai and Hrishikesh Roy said, “We reiterate that these are the matters of utmost importance concerning the citizens of this country under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”

On December 2, 2020, the top court had passed a detailed and specific order directing states and the Centre to take concrete steps towards ensuring that every police station in the country and all investigating agencies have CCTV cameras in their premises. The court had also sought action plan affidavits from all states within 6 weeks to ensure that the states are doing their bit to end custodial torture.

Dalit activist Shiv Kumar, recently released on bail, is a case in point when it comes to discussions over custodial torture. According to a report in The Telegraph, Kumar is now under treatment in hospital for injuries caused allegedly by police torture in custody. Kumar is undergoing treatment at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh.

Shiv Kumar, President of Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Kumar was arrested on January 16, a few days after the arrest of Nodeep Kaur, for allegedly violently protesting the harassment of factory workers in the Kundli Industrial Area in Sonipat on January 12. He was granted bail by a local Sonipat court in all three cases registered against him. He was granted bail in two cases registered under extortion charges on March 3, and in connection with the third FIR on March 4. The 24-year-old labour rights activist told The Telegraph that he would take the police up on a threat against ever setting foot in Kundli again. “While in their custody, police warned me never to be seen in Kundli if I am released or they would pick me up again. But I shall go back. Workers have to fight for their rights because the police are a tool in the hands of the capitalists and we can’t expect justice from them,” he told TT. According to the news report, Kumar’s injuries include “broken toenail beds, fractures and symptoms of post-traumatic disorder”.

He says he “was abducted, not arrested,” and that the police “suddenly pounced on me and took me away. I remember being taken into the Criminal Investigation Agency-1 (police unit) in Sonipat’s Gur Mandi. From January 16 to 23, I was constantly hit with sticks, abused and humiliated referring to my caste. I was not allowed to sleep. They were inhuman. They were always in plainclothes. None offered me first aid.”

He further alleged he was “beaten and then shown videos of the protest (on January 12) and asked to identify people. I asked them how I could identify people when I was not there. At the time, I was at the Singhu border protest. People have taken footage of me at Singhu border. They would keep hitting me on my toes with lathis. They did all kinds of brutality and I was constantly in pain.”

The Telegraph reports that Kumar’s statement recorded by the board says, “They tied both his feet, lay him on the ground, and hit him on the soles. His 2nd, 3rd and 5th toe nails of the right foot were torn and the nail of the big toe of the left foot became blue. They also hit him on the buttocks with flat sticks, then they tied his hands and stretched his legs. He was made to lie on the ground with both legs straight and a metal pipe was placed on his thigh and rolled over the thighs by two people. They also hit him on both hands and palms and also on the back of his head. He was not allowed to sleep for three days, the C.l staff took his statement and asked him to give names and when he could not do so. They tied him to a chair and poured water to his head… He was mentally and physically abused in the police remand and they also poured hot water on his feet and any blisters that formed were burst by them.”

Nodeep Kaur told SabrangIndia that she met Shiv Kumar when he was released and said, “He was in a bad shape that day, but is better today. He is still under treatment at the hospital.” According to the TT news report, Shiv Kumar has said that from January 29 to January 31, he was taken to various places. He said, “I was first taken to Samalkha police station in Panipat district, then to some other police post in that district. At night they took me to some restaurant on a highway and handcuffed me while they drank liquor and made merry. The next morning we went to Haridwar where I was kept in an ashram all day while the policemen were again drinking. I was not questioned on this trip. They were busy partying.”

The report added that the cops, on the way back to Sonipat the next day, they stopped to see a relative of a policeman in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district. Kumar was sent to judicial custody in Sonipat’s district jail, on February 2. He alleged that he was “scared to ask anyone for help in jail after what the police had done to me. No doctor examined me nor was I offered any first aid.”

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Labour activist Shiv Kumar granted bail by Haryana court

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 10:14:08 +0000

Image Courtesy:siasat.com

Shiv Kumar, a labour activist and associate of Dalit labour activist Nodeep Kaur, has been granted bail by a local Sonipat court in all three cases registered against him, reported LiveLaw.

While he was granted bail in two cases registered under extortion charges yesterday on March 3, the local court let him off in connection with the third FIR on March 4.

While he got bail in two cases from Sonepat local court yesterday (March 3), in the third case registered against him, the Bail has been granted today.

With this, he has got bail in all the three cases filed against him and is likely to walk out of jail.

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) March 4, 2021

President of Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, Kumar was arrested on January 16, a few days after the arrest of Nodeep Kaur, for allegedly violently protesting the harassment of factory workers in the Kundli Industrial Area in Sonipat on January 12.

According to a report in the IE, on February 19, the court had directed the SP, Sonipat Jail, to get Kumar examined at a hospital, after his father, Rajbir, told the court that Kumar had been subjected to “police torture”. The Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Chandigarh, had submitted its findings to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on February 25, concluding that he had multiple fractures.

The GMCH has put on record that Shiv Kumar’s medical examination “showed multiple injuries, including at least two fractures on his left hand and right foot, caused by blunt object / weapon”. The injuries are noted to be “more than two weeks old”, in the report. Shiv Kumar was arrested on January 16, since then, not much news was reported about his condition, nor was it known if he had been allowed medical care, access to a lawyer etc.

Three Human Rights organisations, Human Rights Defenders Alert, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and National Dalit Movement for Justice have written to the National Human Rights Commission over Shiv Kumar’s “abduction, illegal detention, arbitrary arrest and custodial torture”. The matter related to Kumar’s alleged custodial torture will be heard on March 16.

Meanwhile, his co-accused Nodeep Kaur was granted bail on February 26 by the Punjab and Haryana High Court while hearing her application clubbed with the suo motu case registered in connection with her alleged illegal confinement. The High Court will continue to hear the matter about her illegal detention and alleged custodial torture.

Speaking to the media after her release from Karnal jail, Kaur had said “Shiv Kumar’s condition is very bad. He wasn’t even there on the 12th (January). Yet he was arrested and thrashed brutally. He has not been shifted to a hospital despite orders.”

The order may be read here:

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Jailed labour rights activist Shiv kumar has multiple injuries: Medical report

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 05:13:31 +0000

Shiv Kumar, the 24-year-old president of the Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan (MAS), who was arrested on January 16, has multiple injuries, including at least two fractures, a court ordered medical examination has revealed. He was arrested just four days after co-accused, fellow activist Nodeep Kaur was picked up from the Singhu Border farmers protest site.

According to a report in the Indian Express, the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Chandigarh, has submitted its findings to the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday. The GMCH has put on record that Shiv Kumar’s medical examination “showed multiple injuries, including at least two fractures on his left hand and right foot, caused by blunt object / weapon”. The injuries are noted to be “more than two weeks old”, in the report. Shiv Kumar was arrested on January 16, since then, not much news was reported about his condition, nor was it known if he had been allowed medical care, access to a lawyer etc. According to Nodeeep’s Sister, in the days following the arrest it was not clear if Shiv Kumar’s family was notified or if he had been allowed to talk to a lawyer, “there was no news or information about him,” she had said then.

A month later, lawyer, Harinder Singh Bains, who is among the scores who have volunteered legal help to the activists arrested from Singhu border, had said that the jail authorities have been citing the Covid protocols as issued by the government as a reason to keep jail inmates from meeting their lawyers and families. “Shiv Kumar is now kept in Covid quarantine under judicial custody and has not been allowed to meet even a lawyer,” added a lawyer who was trying to get a vakalatnama signed even a month after Shiv Kumar’s arrest. “The vakalatnama can be signed even without meeting the inmate, so it is not clear why they have not been done yet. Jail authorities seem to be using the Covid-19 procol at their own convenience,” he had said to SabrangIndia on February 16.

It was on February 19, that the court had directed the SP, Sonipat Jail, to get Kumar examined at GMCH, after his father, Rajbir, told the court that Kumar had been subjected to “police torture” reported IE. The police are yet to respond to those allegations, meanwhile, the IE reports that the GMCH report says Kumar has “right foot swelling…swelling and tenderness of left foot…nail beds of right second and third toe are broken and underlying skin is reddish in colour and showing healing changes… left big toe shows blackish discoloration… nails of left thumb and index finger shows bluish black discoloration with tenderness… tenderness over right wrist…There is fracture of distal phalanx of the second digit of left hand… fracture of base of 5th metatarsal bone of right foot…possible fracture/ sesamoid bone at left navicular bone… possibly fracture of the right ulna bone (right wrist).”

Kumar’s allegations have also been quoted in the report, he has alleged that on January 16, after his arrest, he was “taken to old Kacheri, Sonepat, where the C.I. staff assaulted him”. Kumar alleged that “there were about seven people”, adding that according to Kumar, “the police tied both his feet, lay him on the ground, and hit him on the soles. His second, third and fifth toe nails of the right foot were torn and the nail of the big toe of his left foot became blue. They also hit him on the buttocks with flat sticks, then they tied his hands and stretched his legs. He was made to lie on the ground with both legs straight and a metal pipe was placed on his thigh and rolled over the thighs by two people. They also hit him on both hands and palms and on the back of his head.” Kumar alleged that he was “also not allowed to sleep for three days. The C.I staff took his statement and asked him to give names, and, when he could not do so, they tied him to a chair and poured water on his head.”

According to the report: Kumar was presented before the court on January 24 and police was given 10 days’ remand. “He was in police remand from January 16 to February 2, 2021, and in jail in Sonepat from February 2, 2021, onwards,” says the report, adding that Kumar has alleged that “he was mentally and physically abused in police remand and they also poured hot water on his feet and any blisters that formed were burst by them. On January 29, 2021, they allegedly took him to Haridwar, but kept him in Sambalka police station, and reached Haridwar on January 30. On February 2, they took him to court but got a date for VC (video conference) on February 8”.

The IE reported that the team of GMCH doctors who examined Kumar included those from the orthopaedic, psychiatry, general surgery, radio diagnosis, forensic medicine and toxicology departments. It also reported the psychiatric evaluation report which says: “He appeared sad and distressed, with occasional crying spells. He expressed preoccupation with his current situation, reported predominant anxiety symptoms, flashbacks of brutality meted out to him, nightmares, feelings of loneliness, uncertainty about future and sleep disturbances.”

The High Court on Wednesday sought Kumar’s previous medical records, and fixed the next hearing for March 16. According to lawyers, the bail plea for Kumar will be applied for soon in all the three FIRs. His fellow activist Nodeep Kaur, has been lodged in Karnal Jail since her arrest on January 12, 2021. Details of Nodeep’s arrest may be read here.

Nodeep Kaur gets bail in second case, but remains in jail for now

Nodeep Kaur’s ‘illegal confinement’: Punjab and Haryana HC take suo motu cognisance

Karnal Jail cites Covid-protocol, prevents Nodeep from meeting family

Why was Dalit labour rights activist, Nodeep Kaur, arrested from Singhu Border?

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