Govt to allot DDA flat to gang rape victim's family

The government on Thursday decided to allot a Delhi Development Authority flat to the family of the 23-year-old girl who was gang-raped and brutally assaulted in a moving bus in the national capital last December.

A middle-income group flat costing around Rs 50 lakh is likely to be allotted from the vacant pool with the DDA, officials said. The proposal was mooted by the Urban Development Ministry and got the Union Cabinet's approval during a meeting Thursday evening.

 "The Cabinet approved the sanction and grant of an apartment of DDA to the unfortunate victim of Delhi gangrape case," Information and Broadcasting minister Manish Tewari told reporters in New Delhi.\

The issue of allotting a flat to the victim's family, which hails from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh, had come up during a visit by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi earlier this month to their residence.

The girl, a paramedic student, was gangraped and brutally assaulted on December 16 triggering a massive nationwide uproar. The girl had died in a Singapore hospital on December 29.

An official statement said that "the Union Cabinet today gave its approval for allotment of an MIG flat, free of cost by DDA to the family of the victim..."

"This will be done in relaxation of the existing policy/ guidelines of DDA for allotment of houses on out of turn basis. The cost of the flat will be borne by the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi," it added.