Kolkata, Feb 1 (IANS) In its endeavour to ensure rehabilitation of the tribal woman who was gang raped allegedly at the behest of a kangaroo court in West Bengal’s Birbhum, the state government will provide her a job and a house along with police protection, a minister said Saturday.
The woman, who was violated by over a dozen men Jan 20 in Subalpur village in Birbhum, for “having an affair with a man outside her community”, is currently lodged in short stay home at an undisclosed location after her release from a local hospital a day earlier.
Women and Child Welfare Minister Shashi Panja who has been in constantly touch with the victim said a house under the Indira Awas Yojana will be provided beside a job under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
“The state government is committed to ensure a speedy rehabilitation, accordingly she will be provided a house. Since she is not educated, we have decided to employ her under the MGNREGA,” Panja told media persons here.
While the victim’s family had fled the village after the incident, the woman too expressed apprehensions about returning there.
Thirteen people, including the village headman who ordered the brutality, are behind bars.
A team of the West Bengal Commission for Women led by Chairperson Sunanda Mukherjee is slated to meet the victim at the shelter home during the day.