A court in eastern India has ordered the release of compensation that was slated for the widows of 14 victims in the anti-Christian riots in Kandhamal district in 2008.
According to World Watch Monitor, the High Court of Odisha has asked the state government to pay the compensation amounting to 300,000 rupees (US$4,500) that was awarded to the families two years ago.
The families of 39 victims were awarded 300,000 rupees by the federal Supreme Court in 2016, in addition to the 500,000 rupees ($7,442) that they had received as compensation for those killed in the riots.
Additionally, the Supreme Court also awarded a compensation of 30,000 rupees (US$447) to people who sustained serious injuries in the riots. Those with minor injuries were awarded 10,000 rupees (US148).
Last week, the High Court of Odisha ordered the state government to pay the extra compensation to 14 families that filed a lawsuit in November 2017 with the help of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) in India.
The government was also instructed by the court to prepare more than 153 million rupees (US$2.28 million) as compensation for around 6,000 people who either sustained injuries, lost their homes, or lost family members.
"Today, justice has been granted to the victims of religious persecution in India. We welcome the decision of the High Court to compensate the families which suffered under the Kandhamal violence almost ten years ago," ADF India said in a statement on May 4, according to World Watch Monitor.
Tehmina Arora, a lawyer and the director of ADF India, contended that the government has not paid the "enhanced compensation" awarded by the Supreme Court to the victims in 2016.
"We moved the High Court after the enhanced compensation ordered by the Supreme Court had not been disbursed to the dependant families," she said, as reported by World Watch Monitor.
The state government has announced in the compliance order that it has already released more than 153 million rupees (US$2.28 million) to the Kandhamal district administration, with instructions to pay compensation to the riot victims.
Almost 100 Christians were killed and around 6,000 houses were destroyed during the riots in Kandhamal in August 2008. However, the official death count by the government listed only 39.
The riot began after the murder of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in August 2008. Some have suspected that Sarawswati was killed by Maoist insurgents, but some Hindu fundamentalists suggested that the murder was a Christian conspiracy.
More than 56,000 Christians were displaced as a result of the violence. After the riots, many Christians were forced to convert to Hinduism in a conversion programs led by the right-wing outfit Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), News Click reported.
