Gujarat HC raises compensation to Rs 12.75 lakh to minor rape victim

Ahmedabad, Apr 2 (PTI) The Gujarat High Court has allowed a four-fold rise in compensation to Rs 12.75 lakh to a woman who was raped repeatedly in 2018 and impregnated when she was 14 years old.
The court of Justice Vimal K Vyas granted the rape survivor a compensation of Rs 12.75 lakh, as against Rs 3 lakh granted by a trial court, and said she had to pass through "aggravating circumstances" with her pregnancy medically terminated because of being raped repeatedly at a young age of 14 years.
A special court hearing cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act failed to provide reasoning for awarding Rs 3 lakh as compensation in a serious case of rape, where the minor girl had to pass through aggravated circumstances.
Stating that the trial court should have awarded a higher compensation amount, the HC directed the State Legal Services Authority to release the total compensation amount of Rs 12.75 lakh to the appellant-victim.
If Rs 3 lakh awarded to her by the trial court is already paid, then the same should be deducted from Rs 12.75 lakh, it said.
"It prima facie appears that the appellant-victim has suffered a lot of physical harassment, mental agony and trauma and had to pass through aggravating circumstances where she had to medically terminate her pregnancy because of the rape committed on her several times by the accused-convict," the court said.
As per Clause 9(5) of the Gujarat Victim Compensation Scheme, 2019, if the victim is minor, then the limit of compensation shall be deemed to be 50 per cent higher than the amount mentioned in the schedule.
The compensation amount of Rs 12.75 lakh so awarded would include the compensation amount of Rs.3 lakh earlier awarded by the trial court to be paid to the appellant-victim, it said.
When the incident came to light in 2018, the survivor was 14 years and 13 days old. She was lured and kidnapped by the accused-convict from the lawful guardianship of her father and raped several times, which left her impregnated.
The victim's father then filed a complaint against the accused for offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) pertaining to kidnapping, rape, and sections of the POCSO Act for penetrative sexual assault on a minor.
In 2023, the trial court convicted and sentenced the accused and awarded Rs 3 lakh as compensation to the survivor. But the victim's family approached the high court for enhancement of compensation.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)