Sikh woman Harjit Kaur was maltreated in US detention, not handcuffed: Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday told the Rajya Sabha that Sikh woman Harjit Kaur, recently deported from the United States, was not handcuffed during her removal but was “maltreated in detention” before being placed on a flight to India.

Responding to concerns raised by a Member of Parliament, Jaishankar cited Kaur’s lawyer, who stated, “Thankfully they didn’t cuff her. One officer was going to do it but another officer said not to because of her age.”

The minister added that Indian immigration officials verified she was not handcuffed upon arrival in India.

“Whenever a flight with deportees lands -- be it chartered or commercial -- our officials interview every individual. In this case, they confirmed she was not cuffed,” he said.

However, Jaishankar acknowledged that Kaur had faced mistreatment while in US detention.

“While Mrs Harjit Kaur was not handcuffed, she was maltreated in detention before being put on the flight. On September 26, we officially took up the matter with the American Embassy through a note verbale, expressing our strong concern over the manner of her treatment,” he said.

Harjit Kaur, who first arrived in California in 1992 with her two young sons, had built her life in Hercules, a quiet suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area. For years, she worked at a local saree store, raising her children and later rejoicing in the company of her grandchildren.

But her decades-long American dream ended abruptly this September. Kaur was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on September 8 when she reported to their office in San Francisco—a routine check that turned into a deportation order.

US authorities stated that Kaur had exhausted “decades of due process,” noting that an immigration judge had ordered her removal back in 2005 after her asylum plea was rejected.

On September 22, she was put on a flight back to India. Now in Mohali, Kaur is staying temporarily with a distant brother-in-law who has offered her refuge. Her husband, parents, and elder brothers have all passed away, leaving her largely alone in a country she left more than three decades ago.