Meena Harris alleges Indian activist sexually assaulted in police custody

Meena Harris, the niece of US Vice President Kamala Harris, was among several popular personalities who tweeted earlier this week about the farmers' protests on the outskirts of Delhi.

Meena is a lawyer and author who has been involved in the political campaigns of Kamala Harris.

The tweets by Meena Harris and by the likes of pop artiste Rihanna, environmental activist Greta Thunberg and former adult actor Mia Khalifa provoked a storm on social media. Despite the outrage in India, Meena has continued to tweet about the ongoing farmers' protests.

Late on Friday, Meena posted images on Twitter of a fringe group in India burning posters of her and Greta Thunberg to protest against their comments on the farmers' agitation. Meena also tweeted about the plight of Nodeep Kaur, a dalit labour activist.

Meena Harris tweeted, "Weird to see a photo of yourself burned by an extremist mob but imagine what they would do if we lived in India. I'll tell you—23 yo labor rights activist Nodeep Kaur was arrested, tortured & sexually assaulted in police custody. She's been detained without bail for over 20 days." Meena Harris also tweeted a hashtag calling for the release of Nodeep Kaur.

Meena Harris declared her stance on the ongoing farmers' protest was not just related to agricultural policy, but was "also about the persecution of a vocal religious minority," apparently alluding to Sikhs. Meena Harris tweeted, "This isn't just about agricultural policy. It's also about the persecution of a vocal religious minority. It's police violence, militant nationalism, and attacks on labor rights. It's global authoritarianism. Don't tell me to stay out of your affairs. These are all of our issues."

Earlier on Friday, Meena Harris also referred to "Hindu extremism". Tweeting a screenshot of a recent article in Politico titled It’s Time to Talk About Violent Christian Extremism, Meena Harris wrote, "As you’ve surely seen from India over the last week alone, this headline could easily read, ‘It’s Time to Talk About Violent Hindu Extremism.’ It’s all connected."

Nodeep Kaur was associated with the Mazdoor Adhikar Sangathan union, which had been participating in the farmers' protests. According to reports, Nodeep Kaur was arrested by the Haryana Police from the farmers' protest site at the Singhu border on January 12; a court rejected her bail plea on February 2.

The Quint reported Nodeep Kaur was charged with extortion and attempt to murder. Nodeep Kaur's sister told The Quint "she was beaten up brutally by male police officers and had injury marks on her private parts". The Haryana Police dismissed the allegations of sexual assault in jail as "baseless".