73-year-old Punjab woman maltreated in US detention, Jaishankar tells RS

Regarding the case of Harjit Kaur, a 73-year-old Punjabi woman, who was deported in September this year, Jaishankar denied that she was handcuffed, but said she was rather mistreated during her detention. Jaishankar said her matter was raised by them with the US authorities.

73-year-old Harjit Kaur

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar informed the Rajya Sabha Thursday that 73-year-old Punjab woman Harjit Kaur was maltreated during her detention by the US though she was not handcuffed, before being deported to India on September 25. India has raised the matter regarding the manner in which she was treated with the US authorities, Jaishankar said.

Kaur reportedly reached the US in 1991 as a single mother, worked as a seamstress at an Indian saree store, paid taxes and volunteered at gurdwaras. In between, she applied for asylum and her application was rejected.

“Whenever any flight with deportees comes, deportees are invariably interviewed by government of India officials. In this case, our immigration officers have confirmed she was not handcuffed. We have seen reports pertaining to this,” he said.

“While Harjit Kaur was not handcuffed, she was maltreated. She was maltreated in detention before she was put on the flight. On September 26, we officially took up her (issue of) maltreatment with the American Embassy. We have made clear our very strong concern about the manner of her treatment and have asked the American authorities to look into this matter,” Jaishankar told the House.

No instance of shackling of women and children has been brought to the notice of this Ministry since the February 5 deportation flight, he said.

The Minister said that since 2009, the US has deported 18,822 Indians, while 3,258 have been sent back to India so far this year. “Since January 2025, a total of 3,258 Indian nationals have been deported by the US to India. Of these, 2,032 individuals (around 62.3%) were deported on regular commercial flights, while the remaining 1,226 (37.6%) arrived on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement or US Customs and Border Protection operated charter flights.”

Divya A

Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More

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