The Supreme Court on Thursday asked States and Union Territories to consider formulating a scheme to award a compensation of at least Rs 10 lakh to victims of rape who are physically handicapped.
The court’s thoughtful consideration towards rape victims belonging to the handicapped category came on a case from Chhattisgarh where the judges were moved by the plight of a 37-year-old visually impaired woman, who was raped while she was 18 by her brother’s friend, who had promised to marry her.
Confirming the verdict of the trial court and High Court punishing the accused Tekan with seven years’ rigorous imprisonment, the Bench of Justices MY Eqbal and Arun Mishra directed the State to pay her a sum of Rs 8,000 per month till her lifetime. The court ordered this amount in the special facts of the case.
Simultaneously, the Bench even asked States and UTs to frame suitable scheme under Section 357A of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) by which rape victims who are physically handicapped could be given a substantial compensation to the tune of Rs 10 lakh as framed by the Goa Government.
The direction of the court said, “All the States and Union Territories shall make all endeavour to formulate a uniform scheme for providing victim compensation in respect of rape/sexual exploitation with the physically handicapped women as required under the law taking into consideration the scheme framed by State of Goa for rape victim compensation.”
The Chhattisgarh Government, through advocate Atul Jha, was willing to offer Rs 25,000 to the rape victim as per the Victim Compensation Scheme framed under Section 357A. Another sum of Rs 20,000 was earmarked for her rehabilitation. This lump sum amount was meant to be one time.
But the court treated the case of blind victim on a different footing. Following the incident, she had aborted the pregnancy on account of the sexual assault. She never got married and with nobody to look after her, she survived on a meager handicap pension of Rs 300 every month.
While Goa was an exception, all States and UTs had no uniform compensation scheme with some States like Odisha and West Bengal paying a one-time compensation of Rs 20,000. The Bench said, “No amount of money can erase the trauma and grief the victim suffers. This aid can be crucial with aftermath of crime.”