TCN News
Bilkis Yakoob Rasool Bano was 21 years and 5 months pregnant when she was gang raped by 11 men and her entire family were slaughtered in front of her during the 2002 Gujrat progrom. Her 3 year old daughter’s head was smashed against the wall resulting in her death right in front of her eyes.
Bilkis has been ever since unrelentingly fighting for justice and her case was being conducted out of the Gujrat state as there were attempts to tamper with the evidence and also threats to Bilkis’s life.
The Bombay high court had, in 2008, awarded life imprisonment to the 11 accused. The state of Gujrat had awarded RS. 5 lakh as compensation which was turned down by Bilkis because she wanted justice.
Now the Supreme Court has awarded her 50 lakhs compensation, a government job and accommodation to help her start life afresh on 23rd April. Bilkis has announced that she will use a part of the compensation money to help other rape survivors. She has also thanked the SC for recognising her pain and sorrow that she has been bearing all these years.
The police officials against whom the state government of Gujrat had not taken any action earlier for tampering with the evidence and delaying the case have now been suitably punished as per the directions of the appellate court. The police officers’ stripped off their pension benefits and one IPS officer has been demoted.
Many people have welcomed this verdict and this is supposed to be the highest ever compensation awarded to a rape survivor.
Popular Front of India, in their press release, has hailed the Supreme Court order directing the Gujarat government to pay compensation of Rs 50 lakhs and government job to Balkis Bano. Chairman E Abubacker stated that the court order is a slap on the ugly faces of BJP top brass who were in power in Gujarat during the dreadful days of anti-Muslim riots in 2002.
The press note also stated that BJP leaders including Narendra Modi and Amit Shah who were at the helm of state affairs in Gujarat at that time must get ashamed and make a public apology at least now in the light of the strong signal of Supreme Court against blatant misuse of power and discrimination. E Abubacker hoped that the latest exposure of the true face of RSS-BJP politics will serve a reminder for the people in the context of the ongoing elections to Indian parliament.