Karachi: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday directed the authorities concerned to pay the remaining amount of Rs200,000 in compensation to gang rape victim Kainat Soomro.
The petition was filed by Soomro, who cited the Sindh government through the finance secretary and the personal secretary to the chief minister as respondents. She submitted that when she was a girl over 16 years old, she was gang-raped by four people, and after the acquittal of the accused by a trial court, her brother was murdered.
Soomro said that in the view of the tragic incidents that affected her and her family and her struggle for justice and human rights, the chief minister had promised to give her a grant of Rs0.5 million. The court was informed that the government however released only Rs300,000.
The petitioner prayed to the court to declare her entitled to the grant of the remaining amount of Rs200,000, which, she said, was illegally withheld by the respondents. She prayed to the court to direct the respondents to disburse the remaining amount to her.
Headed by Justice Maqbool Baqar, a division bench observed that the additional advocate general submitted to the court a letter, dated October 24 2012 and addressed by section officer to the advocate general of Sindh, which said that in compliance with the court order a summary had been moved to the chief minister on October 8 for the payment of the balance amount to the petitioner during the financial year 2012-13. Time was sought for the approval of the summary by the chief minister.
The bench ordered, “We would, therefore, dispose of the petition with a direction for the payment to the petitioner of the balance amount Rs0.2 million within eighty days from today.”
