On March 3, 2002, Bilkis, who was a 19-year-old, fled her village along with her family in a truck as Muslim homes were targeted by Hindu mobs in the violence. The truck was stopped by an armed mob of around 30-35 people in Randhikpur village of Dahod district near Ahmedabad. The mob gang-raped Bano, who was pregnant then, and killed 14 of her family members, including her two-year-old daughter and her mother Halima.
On April 23, the Supreme Court told the Gujarat government to provide her Rs 50 lakh as compensation, as well as a job and a house. Each of the convicts has also been asked to pay Rs 55,000, which will go to Bano as compensation.
This landmark compensation comes 17 years after the original crime.