By IANS,
New Delhi : Upholding gender equality, a city court Tuesday awarded a compensation of Rs.1.3 million to the family of a 23-year-old woman who was crushed by a Blueline bus two years ago.
“A woman has to be treated equally with a man whether in life or in death,” Motor Accident Claim Tribunal (MACT) Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma said, disapproving an insurance firm’s plea that Rekha Goel’s parents should not be given compensation as they were not financially dependent on her.
“Passing any discriminatory order in case of a male or female death will necessarily negate and defeat everything that society, courts and other authorities have done for equality and empowerment of women in India,” the court said, awarding a relief of Rs.1.3 million, including interest, to Goel’s parents. The woman was killed Nov 26, 2006, by a Blueline bus at Karol Bagh while she was crossing the road.
The National Insurance Company Ltd had contended that there was no question of financial dependency of the parents on Goel, a B.Com. final year student earning Rs.9,500 a month, as she would have got married in a couple of years.
It would be equally wrong to presume that if a woman is married, then there is an absolute ban on extending financial and emotional support to her parental family, the court said.