Balkis Bano, a lady who was gang raped during the 2002 Gujarat riots has moved to the Supreme court with her grievances regarding the accommodation and a job that the Gujarat Govt was supposed to give to her as compensation.
According to her, the government has allotted her only 50 square meters land and a peon’s position in the Irrigation Department on contract basis for a particular project in fixed pay grade as a job, which in her opinion has been awarded to her as compensation only for name sake.
The case originated in Gujarat but due to factors like witnesses being harmed and evidence being tampered with, the hearing was shifted to Mumbai. The court had initially awarded her 5 lakhs in compensation, which she refused to accept as she sought exemplary compensation. Further, 11 men were convicted for raping her and killing 7 members of her family, the accused were sentenced to life imprisonment.
After the appeal of all the accused, the High Court convicted 7 of them, which included 2 doctors under sections 218 (not performing their duties) and section 201 (tampering of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Ultimately, with regards to the most recent application made by Bano, the bench consisting of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian asked her to approach the authorities concerned with her grievances over the job offer and accommodation provided by the state.
