2 years after murder of 4-year-old, family gets ₹10-lakh relief

ENVIOUS OF HER FATHER’S SAMOSA STALL, THE CONVICT HAD SLASHED THE GIRL’S THROAT WITH A SICKLE IN FULL PUBLIC VIEW ON FEBRUARY 25, 2018

CHANDIGARH: Two years after a four-year-old girl was murdered by a labourer who held a grudge against the toddler’s father, the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) has awarded ₹10 lakh as compensation to the victim’s family.

The convict, Kamlesh, who lived in the Labour Colony in Industrial Area, Phase 1, was neighbours with the victim’s family. Envious of her father’s samosa stall, he had slashed the girl’s throat with a sickle in full public view on February 25, 2018.

In August 2019, a district court had awarded Kamlesh “life imprisonment till natural death” who was found guilty of “cold-blooded murder”. The court had also recommended providing compensation to the family.

On Thursday, the family was called and the compensation amount was awarded by chief judicial magistrate-cum-secretary, DSLA, Chandigarh, Ashok Kumar Mann as part of the Victim Assistance Scheme, 2012.

“It was recommended by the court that the file regarding compensation be forwarded to the legal services authority. It was received by DLSA on August 11 and today, the compensation was awarded,” Mann said.

The Punjab and Haryana high Court judge and executive chairman of SLSA, Chandigarh, justice Jaswant Singh, had given directions that in cases where the court had recommended compensation to the victim/kin, there should be no delay in doing so.