SC: Rs 15-lakh compensation granted to deaf-mute rape victim from HP
SC: Rs 15-lakh compensation granted to deaf-mute rape victim from HP. The Supreme Court has granted a compensation of Rs 15 lakh to a deaf and mute rape victim from Himachal Pradesh who had delivered a girl child. The top court modified a Himachal Pradesh High Court order directing the payment of Rs 30,000 per month for life as compensation to the victim, who is 80 per cent handicapped. "In the circumstances, we deem it appropriate to modify the order of the High Court insofar as it pertains to the payment of compensation to the victim by directing the State to deposit an amount of Rs 15 lakh in an interest bearing fixed deposit in the name of the victim in any nationalised bank in consultation with the Member-Secretary of the Himachal Pradesh State Legal Services Authority...," a bench of justices J Chelameswar and Sanjay Kishan Kaul said. Instead of making monthly payments, it would be appropriate, that a lump sum amount be directed to be paid to meet the ends of justice in the instant case, said Standing counsel Varinder Kumar Sharma. On June 26, 2015, a session court at Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh had held Rajneesh guilty of rape and sentenced him to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 20,000.
