Juvenile board salutes bravery of victim
THE BOARD EXPRESSED DISPLEASURE OVER UP GOVT NOT GIVING COMPENSATION DUE TO THE VICTIM TO DATE
NEW DELHI: The Juvenile Justice Board ‘saluted’ the spirit of the 24-year-old MBA student who was gang-raped in 2009 and had to endure the ordeal for almost a decade.
The board observed that the victim has gone through the harrowing experience of narrating the incident before different authorities and said that it was remarkable of her to persevere for so long. “She had to leave not only her city or state, but also this country. Yet, this brave woman remained undeterred, and went through the excruciating motions of appearing before the courts of justice. She refused to be overawed, and withstood the test of lengthy and sometimes, gruelling cross-examination,” the board said.
Special public prosecutor for Uttar Pradesh, Neelam Narang, along with the sister of the victim, had stated before the board that so far no compensation had been given to the victim by any authority.
The board said that it is conscious of the fact that no amount of money can erase the trauma and grief that the victim has suffered, or the dignity and confidence that was shattered.
“No amount of money can compensate the agony that the survivor has undergone, but we hope that some compensation can go in alleviating a bit of the suffering that she has endured, and in recompensing legal and other expenses incurred,” the board said.
The board expressed disap- proval over the Uttar Pradesh government for not giving any compensation that was due to the victim to date.
“We are in the year 2018 and yet no enhancement of compensation has been made in the UP victim compensation scheme. Accordingly, a copy of this order be sent to the principal secretary, department of women and child development, government of UP to take requisite steps to enhance the compensation amount in the victim compensation scheme of the state in consonance with the law,” it said. The court asked the state of UP to disburse the compensation amount due to her.