Naseeb Kaur

Summary

Naseeb Kaur was a Jat, Amritdhari Sikh, and a resident of village Thuliwal in Barnala. She was 40-42 years old when security forces killed her and her husband. She had not received a formal education and worked as a housewife. Naseeb Kaur was married to Maghar Singh and had four children. She was not a combatant. She had voluntarily provided support to the militancy.

Security forces did not detain Naseeb Kaur prior to the detention leading to her killing. However, security forces subjected her husband and father-in-law to repeated illegal detentions. Naseeb Kaur's family believe they were targeted because the police believed her son was a militant. After police from Barnala police station tortured her husband in illegal detention, she and her husband fled home. According to her son, "Afterwards, the police looted our house. They destroyed our [water] motors and broke things in the house."

Between October 5, 1992 and October 10, 1992, Naseeb Kaur and her husband Maghar Singh were traveling back to their home when security officials from Handiaya Criminal Investigation Agency (CIA) Staff illegally abducted them near village Khiali. Parmar, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of Handiaya CIA Staff, participated in the abduction. A villager witnessed their abduction and informed the family.

Security officials illegally detained and tortured Naseeb Kaur and Maghar Singh in detention at Handiaya CIA Staff for 10 days. A co-detainee later told her son what happened, "He told [us] that [my] mother and father were very brutally tortured in detention. They would be questioned about me, because I was a runaway at that time; but, [my] mother and father did not tell [them] anything." Security officials did not inform Naseeb Kaur's family about whether or not they presented her or Maghar Singh before a judge or magistrate during this detention period.

Security forces killed Naseeb Kaur and Maghar Singh between October 15, 1992 and October 20, 1992. DSP Parmar and Inspector Sant Kumar of Handiaya CIA Staff led the forces and staged a fake encounter on a bridge near the canal of village Kot Duna. An assistant to these police officials later told Naseeb Kaur's son about the faked encounters. Security officials did not return Naseeb Kaur's body to her family, and her son does not know how security forces disposed of the body. The family never performed the religious last rites, or bhog, for Naseeb Kaur or Maghar Singh.

After the unlawful killings of their parents, the family continued to experience torture and unlawful detention, among other abuses. They did not pursue any legal remedy due to fear of retaliation and no one being able to conduct any advocacy. The family abandoned their home. They believe the government should establish a truth commission, grant monetary compensation, investigate the abuses, establish a truth commission, and criminally prosecute those responsible for the abuses.

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