The direction was
issued while upholding the life sentence to a man convicted of raping
and impregnating his 14-yr-old stepdaughter.
Aneesha Mathur
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New Delhi |
The Delhi High Court has held that a child “born out of rape” is also
entitled to receiving compensation, including “maintenance and
support”.
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| Delhi High Court |
“We find there is a complete vacuum in the consideration of
compensation so far as the sexual offence resulting in the birth of a
child. Such a child is clearly a victim of the act of the offender and
entitled to compensation independent of the amount paid to his/her
mother. Such award would require to include amount towards his/her
maintenance and support,” said the bench of Justice Gita Mittal and
Justice R K Gauba in its judgment issued on December 9.
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The bench also said the entitlement of the child was traced to
provisions of compensation to victims of sexual assault under Section
357 of the CrPC as well as under the POCSO Act, since such a child would
be “encovered under the definition of both victim as well as dependent
on the victim”.
The direction was issued while upholding the life sentence to a man
convicted of raping and impregnating his 14-year-old stepdaughter.
NGO HaQ Center for Child Rights co-director Bharti Ali told The
Indian Express the judgment would “set a precedent for expedited
compensation” to child victims of sexual abuse.
“This is the first time that rights of a child born out of rape have
been considered. So far, we had been struggling to get compensation for
the rape victims, since courts are reluctant to grant it till the trial
is over,” said Ali.
Advocate Varun Goswami, who was the public prosecutor in the case,
said there was now “hope that the legislature will look into it and make
provisions”.
The 14-year-old rape victim had given birth to a boy in 2014. The
trial court had convicted the man on the basis of DNA evidence proving
that he was the father of the child.
The girl alleged that the stepfather had been sexually abusing her
since she was 11 and had threatened the lives of her mother and
eight-year-old stepbrother.
The man worked as a driver, and had married the mother of the girl after the death of her first husband.
However, while upholding the legal entitlement of the child to get
compensation from the government, the bench has set aside the Rs 12 lakh
compensation granted to the baby by the trial court in this particular
case.
The bench noted that since the baby had been given up in adoption,
there were “concerns of privacy and confidentiality” which could have
“possible repercussions”, “impacting the future welfare of the
individuals involved…”
The HC set aside the order of the trial court awarding compensation
to the baby, but has allowed the couple who adopted the boy “to approach
the legal services authority for compensation in its favour should they
feel it necessary to claim on its behalf”.
The bench has also enhanced the amount of compensation to the rape victim, from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 7.5 lakh.
The court has now directed that the judgment should be sent to the
Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA) and the Principal Secretary
Law of the Delhi government to consider the issue of compensation to
the child victims.
