The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday awarded a compensation of Rs two million (Rs 20 lakh) to a woman who was gang-raped by her own husband and his friends.

The petitioner had accused her husband Vikram and his three friends of picking her up from the Rewari bus stand (in Haryana) on December 21, 1998, drugging and then raping her at village Chubera.

When people gathered at the spot, she was thrown into a car and taken to another spot where three others were also present.

The petitioner was then beaten with belts, kicked and repeatedly raped by all seven persons.

Additional District Judge (ADJ), Rewari had convicted all the seven. The order was upheld by a division bench of the high court, but no compensation was awarded to the victim.

The petitioner then moved a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking compensation. The HC, in an interim order, had directed each accused to deposit Rs 15,000.

On Thursday, a division bench comprising Justice G S Singhvi and Justice S S Grewal directed the victim's husband to pay an additional Rs 400,000 and the other accused Rs 250,000 each to the victim.