Apex court issues notice on a plea for Rs 10L to a 10-year-old rape victim
August 18, 2017The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre, NALSA and Chandigarh administration on a petition seeking Rs 10 lakh compensation to a 10-year-old rape victim who delivered a baby yesterday at a Chandigarh hospital.
Appearing for the rape survivor, senior lawyer and former ASG Indira Jaising argued that no compensation had been given to the girl despite a direction by the Chief Justice-led bench.
She has also sought firm provisions for the rehabilitation of the girl. The Supreme Court had on July 28 rejected her plea for aborting a 32-week-old fetus which meant that she will have to deliver a baby in a months time. The dismissal of plea came after a medical report by PGIMER hospital Chandigarh said termination of pregnancy at this stage will have a grave effect on health of the girl.
The petition had initially said the fetus was 26 weeks old but medical examination revealed it was 32 week old.
In another case the Supreme Court yesterday directed the Bihar government to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation to a destitute woman who was allegedly raped and not allowed to abort her 26-week pregnancy after a medical board’s opinion.
This judgment was given by Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Amitava Roy and Justice A.M. Khanwilkar. They observed, “In the instant case, it is luminescent that the appellant has suffered grave injury to her mental health. The said injury is in continuance… One may have courage or cultivate courage to face a situation, but the shock of rape is bound to chain and enslave her with the trauma she has faced and cataclysm that she has to go through. Her condition cannot be reversed. The situation as is unredeemable. But a pregnant one, she has to be compensated so that she lives her life with dignity and the authorities of the State who were negligent would understand that truancy has no space in a situation of the present kind. What needed is promptitude.