Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Wednesday was irate with the state government when it came to know that a 14-year-old “rape survivor” had been denied compensation under the Manodhairya scheme on the grounds that as she had allegedly consented to sex. The HC said the girl is 14 years old and “do you think she has maturity to give consent?” The HC has directed the district collector of Mumbai suburban to remain present before the court at the next hearing along with details of the scheme, which seeks to provide succour, including financial help worth Rs 3 lakh and post-trauma counselling, to survivors of rapes and acid attacks.
The girl, a Borivali resident, also demanded that the compensation amount be increased. The girl’s father works as watchman and her mother is employed as a domestic help.
A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice Girish Kulkarni was hearing the writ petition. According to the plea, the accused, in May 2016, had visited the girl’s home and assured her that he would marry her and also gave her money. The petitioner claimed the accused had taken her to another house and raped her twice, after which he told her to go home. The Borivali police had registered a complaint and arrested the accused.
Rebecca Gonsalves, the lawyer representing the state, on Wednesday argued, “It looks like a false case; the case has been registered after marriage did not happen.”
The Chief Justice, irked by this statement, said, “I am disturbed and shocked to hear the state government say that it was consensual. She is a 14-year-old girl. Do you think she has the maturity to give consent or understand the consequences of that?” The court further said even if she had consented, “it still amounts to rape under the law.”
Meanwhile, the petitioner’s lawyer informed the high court that a small state like Goa gives Rs 10 lakh as compensation to rape victims but in a state like Maharshtra it is only Rs 3 lakh.
The court said it would consider whether the amount should be revised at a later stage.
