Nodeep Kaur was arrested six weeks ago.
New Delhi:
Nodeep Kaur, the 23-year-old workers’ rights activist who was released on bail on Friday following global outrage, told NDTV she would travel to the Singhu border near Delhi, where farmers had been protesting for three months against the agricultural laws of the center and would join the demonstration.
“I will discuss with my family what to do next. I will definitely go to Singhu, sit with the farmers. I have not done anything illegal in the past and I will not do anything illegal in the future and I will always defend the people, ”she said.
She also spoke about Shiv Kumar, another Dalit activist who was arrested along with her. “Shiv Kumar’s condition is very bad. He was not even there on January 12th. Yet he was arrested and brutally beaten. He was not transferred to hospital despite orders,” Ms Kaur said.
Nodeep Kaur was arrested about six weeks ago during a workers’ protest outside a factory on the outskirts of Delhi.
Her arrest sparked a storm of criticism with supporters alleging that she had been sexually assaulted and tortured in detention. Police strongly denied the allegations and said Ms Kaur attacked officers with sticks.
Police charged Ms. Kaur, who is from the Dalit community, with illegal assembly, attempted murder and extortion.
She had also participated in the farmers’ protest against the central government’s new agricultural reforms which emerged as a major challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the end of last year.
Her case gained international attention on February 6 when Meena Harris, niece of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, tweeted, saying: “Nodeep Kaur, 23, labor rights activist, was arrested, tortured and sexually assaulted in custody.”
Receiving complaints on its own about his alleged illegal detention, the High Court of Punjab and Haryana also notified the Haryana government.