Indian woman awarded £50,000 compensation over Gujarat gang rape after 17-year legal battle

A landmark ruling has granted a woman who was gang-raped and left for dead during the 2002 Gujarat riots five million rupees (£55,300) in compensation.

Bilkis Yakoob Rasool Bano, 36, is the first woman to receive direct financial redress from India’s Supreme Court for crimes committed during the riots.

The sum comes after a 17-year legal fight during which Ms Bano received death threats for trying to bring her attackers to justice. The court also ruled that Gujarati authorities must offer Ms Bano a government job and a house in the area of her choice.

The riots were sparked when a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was set on fire, resulting in 58 deaths. In the three days that followed, a spate of violent revenge attacks were carried out against the state’s minority Muslim population.

Around 1,900 people died, according to The Concerned Citizens Tribunal Report.

Like many Muslims, Ms Bano and her family attempted to flee the violence.

However, the truck they were traveling in was stopped by around 30 rioters near the city of Ahmedabad.

The mob murdered 14 members of Ms Bano’s family, including her three-year-old daughter who was beaten to death with a rock.

The heavily-pregnant Ms Bano was gang-raped 22 times and left for dead.

She first tried to bring her attackers to justice in 2003 but the Gujarati police refused to believe her claims, arguing she had insufficient evidence.

Ms Bano then approached India’s National Human Rights Commission, which finally brought her case to the Supreme Court. In January 2004, the court arrested the accused and agreed to try them in Gujarat.

However, the hearing was jeopardised as Ms Bano was forced to move home 20 times in two years after receiving death threats.

Eventually, the case was moved to Mumbai and in 2008 11 of her attackers received life sentences. Seven doctors and policemen were also sentenced for trying to tamper with evidence to discredit Ms Bano's claims.

Eleven years later, she has finally reached an agreement with the authorities over financial compensation.

“It has been a journey of a million steps, first seeking criminal conviction of those who destroyed my life, my child, my entire family,” Ms Bano said after the ruling.

“The Supreme Court’s order to me is not about the money – it is about the signal it has sent to the State and to each citizen of this country.”