Supreme Court: States, Union Territories have to compensate rape victims

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed all states and Union Territories to award compensation to rape victims, particularly for the handicapped who are sexually exploited, for their rehabilitation.

A bench of Justices M.Y. Eqbal and Arun Mishra asked all the states/UTs to formulate a uniform scheme for providing victim compensation in respect of all rape/sexual exploitation victims. Citing the example of Goa, which is providing a maximum of Rs 10 lakh to rape victims, the bench said the scheme to be framed by the states and UTs should take into consideration the Goa example.

Writing the order Justice Eqbal said: “Indisputably, no amount of money can restore the dignity and confidence that the accused took away from the victim. No amount of money can erase the trauma and grief the victim suffers. This aid can be crucial with aftermath of crime (sic).”

But compensation can be given to the victim for relief and rehabilitation in special cases like the present case where the offence is against a handicapped woman who required specialised treatment and care.

In the present case, a blind girl was lured into sexual exploitation by Tekan, alias Tekram, of Nandini Kundini village in Chhattisgarh on the pretext of marrying her.

It has further come in evidence that when the prosecutrix became pregnant the accused stopped visiting her house. The accused accepted his guilt during village panchayat meeting but refused to marry her. A case of rape was registered against him and a trial court awarded seven years imprisonment and this was upheld by the Madhya Pradesh High Court. He preferred the present appeal.

Dismissing the appeal the bench said the victim being physically disadvantaged, she was already in a socially disadvantaged position which was exploited maliciously by the accused for his own ill intentions to commit fraud upon her and rape her in the garb of promised marriage which has put the victim in a doubly disadvantaged situation and after the waiting of many years it has worsened. Taking into consideration her plight and that she was being given a pension of Rs. 300 per month, the Bench directed the Chattisgarh government to pay her Rs..8,000 per month as victim compensation to the victim who is physically handicapped, i.e. blind, till her life time.