New Delhi: Dalit labour rights activist Shiv Kumar, who has been in a Sonepat jail since 16 January, has been a victim of custodial violence, his family has alleged while demanding his release at the earliest.
Kumar, who is the president of three-year-old labour orgranisation Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan, continues to be in jail even as his union’s member, Nodeep Kaur was released on bail on 26 February.
Both were arrested after their protest against the alleged harassment of factory workers in the Kundli Industrial Area in Sonepat turned violent on 12 January. Both were named in three FIRs filed in the case, which include charges of attempt to murder, theft and extortion.
Speaking to ThePrint Monday, Kumar’s father, Rajbeer Kumar said all he wants is for his son to be released, “just like Nodeep” — who caught international headlines during her 46-day incarceration.
Rajbeer, who met his son at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Chandigarh on 20 February, alleged that Kumar could barely walk.
“His nails were completely blue, he was limping and he wasn’t even wearing chappals. When we saw the medical report, we saw that his nails had been ripped off, he had two fractures, swelling on his legs and several other details that I just couldn’t imagine,” he said.
The medical examination came after the family moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which ordered an immediate examination on 19 February over claims of custodial violence.
The Haryana Police, however, denied these allegations. “There has been no custodial violence or torture on him at Kundli station. The family can say what they want, but it all comes down to evidence and evidence is already with the high court,” Ravi Kumar, Station House Officer (SHO), Kundli Police Station, told ThePrint.
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‘Nodeep’s release gives me hope’
Rajbeer Kumar said the only conversation he’s had with Shiv since his arrest was through the grilled window of a police van on 20 February, the day of the medical exam.
“I was in court on 2 February but he was produced in a hurry and his bail plea was denied so quickly that I never caught a glimpse of him,” he said.
“I got a chance to speak to him after his medical exam. He called out to me from the grilled window of the police van and said, ‘papa main theek hun, chinta mat karna (I’m alright, don’t worry)’.”
Shiv’s friend Ankit also alleged that the activist wasn’t given his glasses until 19 February. “He can barely see with his left eye-and is undergoing treatment at AIIMS for years. The police picked him up without his glasses or chappals,” Ankit told ThePrint.
All Rajbeer seeks now is his son’s release. “Earlier I would only sit and cry. But then Shiv’s friends kept offering their support. Nodeep’s release gives me hope,” he said.
Also read: ‘Right to peaceful protest circumscribed by thin line’ — Full text of Nodeep Kaur bail order
‘Not informed of arrest’
Along with custodial violence, Shiv’s family has also alleged that he was arrested on 16 January but wasn’t informed until 31 January.
“Shiv’s friend called me up and said that he has been picked up. I immediately rushed to Sonepat. After an application at the Sonepat Police Station, Kundli SHO informed us that he is in 10-day custody,” said Rajbeer.
According to Shiv’s lawyer Harinder Singh Bains, he was allegedly picked up by the police on 16 January, shown to be arrested on 23 January, and presented before the magistrate on 24 January. He was sent to judicial custody on 2 February.
But police denied the allegations of illegally detaining Shiv.
“We followed the due procedure of law in Shiv Kumar’s arrest from Kundli on 23 January, 8 pm. He was taken to a 10-day police remand and then to Sonepat jail the next day. His mother was intimated,” Sonepat’s Superintendent of Police Jashandeep Singh Randhawa told ThePrint.
Rajbeer said his wife is mentally unfit. “Police came to our house after 9 pm on 23 January. Nobody was home except my wife and my youngest son who is barely 15,” said Rajbeer.
“They asked her where he is, and when she said she doesn’t know, they asked her to sign a document and inform the Kundli Police Station if he returns. But his mother is mentally unstable and on medication for years. She is illiterate, so how would she know what papers they are making her sign?” asked Rajbeer.
‘He can continue to fight after release’
Rajbeer says Shiv is the only activist in the family. “No one in my family has ever attended a protest or sat on a dharna,” he said.
Shiv’s friends said he got into activism early. “Coming from a Dalit family, he has always kept struggle at the centre of his life. In 2015, he even spent 18 days in jail when there was a protest in Sonepat to allow poor students in private schools. Those 18 days really shaped him,” said Ankit.
With his son in jail, Rajbeer, an agricultural labourer, has once again become the sole earning member of the family at the age of 55. But while Rajbeer wants his son’s release, he doesn’t want him to give up his activism.
“I am an agricultural worker … what if these laws bring in corporates who don’t even need workers like me? He can continue to fight after his release. I will not stop him,” he said.
(With inputs from Taran Deol)
Also read: Nodeep Kaur gets bail, medical report shows ‘purplish bruises’ caused by blunt object