New Delhi: The Supreme Court on August 2 ordered payment of additional compensation to the victims of anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal, Odisha in 2008.
The bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit ruled that the compensation paid to the victims was not adequate and ordered additional amount to be paid.
A petition was filed by Archbishop Raphael Cheenath, retired prelate of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar on which the verdict has been pronounced.
Violence erupted in 2008 when a local leader and VHP member Swami Lakhmananda Saraswati was assassinated by unknown assailants on August 23. His death led to an outrage against the Christian community leading to widespread incidences of murder, forceful conversions and destruction of churches.