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On May 13 2021, the Delhi High Court set aside the compensation of Rs. 50000 granted by the trial court and awarded interim relief of Rs. 6 lakh to the victim.
Justice Anup J Bhambhani heard this petition which is moved before the court by a minor through his mother. The victim was six years old who was sexually assaulted and abused by his uncle in the victim’s own house. In the petition, it was stated that the victim's financial conditions were weak and only his mother earns by working as a maid while his father was unable to work due to medical reasons.
Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the compensation granted by the trial court only cover up the expected expenses to be incurred by the victim's family and failed to acknowledge the mental state of the victim. The counsel for the petitioner also stated that while providing interim compensation to the victim of sexual assault, sodomy and abuse, the compensation should be helping the victim to overcome the incident and rehabilitate, not merely to cover the expenses. Relying on the Delhi Victim Compensation Scheme 2018, the petitioner's counsel stated that the amount for compensating the victim should have been between 6 lakh to 10.5 lakh.
The state in response said that the trial court was not bound by the Delhi Victim Compensation Scheme and the application for interim relief was filed under section33(8) of the POSCO Act. So, the trial court awarded a minimum threshold amount of Rs 50,000.
The court said that the Delhi Victim Compensation Scheme only assists the trial court as guidelines and was not binding. The High Court heard the victim's statement and after considering that the six years old minor had experienced severe psychical trauma and the financial conditions of the victim's family were extremely weak to incur the counselling cost and fulfil the educational need of the victim, the court opined that the compensation granted earlier was low and considered to extend the compensation.
Delhi High Court said that since the system is not capable to reverse or undo the crime, the least it could do apart from punishing the offender was to provide psychological security and a sense of empowerment through monetary compensation.
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