LUCKNOW, December 31 (agencies): Uttar Pradesh (UP) government on Monday announced Rs 20 lakh compensation for the family of the Delhi gang-rape victim who succumbed to injuries two days ago. The compensation will be given from the chief minister`s discretionary fund.
Earlier, on December 21, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had announced to give Rs five lakh financial assistance to the family of the victim in addition to the the offer to all medical expenses and a job after recovery.
The family hails from a village in Ballia district of the state and had moved to Delhi 20 years ago but is still connected to its native place.
He had taken a loan for the education of his daughter who wanted to be a physiotherapist. His two sons are still studying.
The chief minister announced the Rs 20 lakh compensation overlooking the criticism of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati and Shahi Imam of Delhi`s Jama Masjid Imam Bukhari. Mayawati had said that compensation is fine but the state government should focus on preventing rapes and provide speedy justice. She had also alleged that crime against women has increased manifold in first nine months of Samajwadi Party (SP) rule in the state. Bukhari had said that SP government should have also announced compensation for the Muslim rape victims.
Earlier today, the Delhi government announced financial aid of Rs 15 lakh for the next of the kin of the 23-year-old gang-rape victim and offered a job to a family member of the girl, who died two days ago.
The decisions were taken at a cabinet meeting presided over by chief minister Sheila Dikshit.
The phsyiotherapy student was brutally gang-raped and assaulted in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16. She breathed her last in a Singapore hospital on Saturday morning and her mortal remains were cremated here on Sunday.