india

Updated: Oct 01, 2019 05:59 IST

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Gujarat government to pay within two weeks a compensation of ₹50 lakh to Gujarat riots gang rape survivor Bilkis Bano.

The court also asked the government to provide her a house and a job within the same deadline.

The direction of the three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi came during a contempt plea filed by Bano, pointing out that an April order by the apex court to the Gujarat government, on the compensation, house, and job, had not been heeded.

Responding to this, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta , appearing for Gujarat, said the state was planning to file a review, and that it was worried that the court’s April order would set a precedent for compensation to other riots victims.

The bench clarified that the order was related to the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case -- essentially confirming that it could not be a precedent.

While ordering the compensation in April, the court observed that Bano had lived a nomadic life for 17 years since her gang rape during the Gujarat riots in March 2002.

Her lawyers had told the court that Bano, her husband Yakub, and five children, including 16-year-old daughter Hazra, had lived in over 20 different locations out of fear of retribution.

Bano’s legal battle began after the state police dismissed her complaint of gang rape citing lack of evidence.

Bano, then 21, was five months pregnant when she was assaulted by a mob in Randhikpur village near Ahmedabad. Bano lost 14 members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter whose murder she witnessed.

A special court on January 21, 2008 had convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment 11 men for raping Bano and murdering seven of her family members, while acquitting seven persons, including the policemen and doctors. In March, the SC also ordered the state government to act against police officials who were tasked with probing the case.