6.7.11

Hindustan Times

Rape victims to be compensated

Rape victims will soon get a financial assistance ranging upto Rs 3 lakh. There will also be a provision for interim relief of upto Rs 20,000 and restorative support of Rs 50,000, which will be given within 15 days of the incident. This was stated in a landmark draft scheme of the Centre submitted before the Delhi high court on Wednesday. The court directed the Centre to finalise the scheme and notify it within six weeks.

Besides financial assistance, the women and child development ministry’s scheme aims for “restorative justice” in the form of legal and medical assistance, shelter, counselling and other support services.

The relief can be accessed by a woman, minor girl or legal heirs of an affected woman. In certain special cases involving minor girls, mentally challenged or handicapped women, suffering from HIV/AIDS or STDs the amount can go upto R5 lakh.
Interim relief has to be paid within three weeks of filing an application with a district board. Taking a humanitarian view of the circumstances, the ministry has allowed for a time period of 60 days from the date of recording an FIR to file an application.

The police will also have to forward the medical certificate and preliminary investigation report within 72 hours. The district board can disburse the interim relief of R20,000 after a preliminary inquiry as far as possible within 15 days and in a maximum of three weeks.

The final amount of R3 lakh can be directly disbursed by the district board within one month from the date of which the affected person gives her evidence in the criminal trial or within a year from the date of filing an FIR.
A bench headed by chief justice Dipak Misra had lashed out at the Centre on May 8 for delaying the scheme for over a year.

“The matter has to be taken up with all seriousness as a case of this nature requires attention for the purpose of enabling rape victims to be rehabilitated both socially as well as mentally because the anguish, the agony and the trauma suffered by a rape victim is absolutely immeasurable,” the court had said.