The Hindu : New Delhi News : Court dismayed over plight of rape victims

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Tuesday, Jul 08, 2008
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Court dismayed over plight of rape victims

Staff Reporter

Expresses shock over lack of rehabilitation scheme for them

Directions issued to sensitise probe agencies and prosecution over the need to rehabilitate victims
Govt. told to engage trained social workers to take care of the agony of the rape victim

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday passed a series of directions aimed at sensitising the investigating agencies and the prosecution to the need to rehabilitate victims of sexual assault, particularly minors.

Issuing the directions, a Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice Manmohan Sareen and Justice S.L. Bhayana expressed shock that no concrete guidelines had been put in place so far for meting out sympathetic and kind treatment to rape victims during investigation and trial of their cases.

“We are concerned and are indeed dismayed that as yet no concrete steps have been taken or any scheme for rehabilitation of victims of rape or child rape victim has been put in operation,” the Bench observed.

The Bench was of the opinion that investigating officers and public prosecutors generally ignore the mental agony and social sigma of the rape victim while interrogating and examining her during investigation and trial.

The Bench directed the Delhi Government to engage trained social workers to take care of the agony of the rape victim and bring her back into society by empathising with her during the most traumatic phase of her life.

It further stressed the need for training all the personnel engaged in investigation and prosecution of rape cases in the skill of reducing mental trauma of the rape victim.

In the case of sexual assaults on minors, the Delhi police should immediately inform the Delhi Legal Services Authority which would depute a social worker to help in sympathetic handling of the case and rehabilitation of the victims, the Bench stated.

The directions came on 12 appeals filed by rape accused against their conviction in 12 different rape cases by different trial courts in separate years. The appeals were between 10 and 12 years old.

Significantly, in all the cases the victims were minors ranging in age from three years to 11 years. The trial court had sentenced the accused to life imprisonment. They had urged the High Court to reduce their sentence on the ground of their having been in jail for several years, their immediate family liabilities and their readiness to repent for the crime.

The Court allowed their appeal and reduced their sentence from life term to terms of 10 to 12 years of imprisonment except the appeal of one accused who was charged with sexually assaulting his 10-year-old daughter after the death of her mother. “The accused does not deserve leniency despite his good cond-uct in jail,” the Bench said.

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