RAPE AND COMPENSATION......?

AS if the low conviction rate (a dismal 27 per cent) in rape cases was not enough to push up the rising graph of rape incidents, now comes a proposal from the Centre to compensate rape victims. The effort, claimed to be “restorative justice”, will, in fact, subvert the already slow process of justice for the victims.

This unique way of delivering “justice” by offering financial assistance between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh to a traumatised rape victim by the government supports former Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan’s view expressed during a speech. He said, “Due regard must be given to their (the rape victims’) personal autonomy since in some cases the victim may choose to marry the perpetrator or choose to give birth to a child conceived through forced intercourse.”
In many societies which may be considered primitive, similar practices are followed under the garb of social justice. In Namibia, the parents of a rape victim get the issue settled through the traditional court; the culprits’ parents compensate them with money or cattle. In many countries, Islamic courts have asked the rapist to marry the victim. If these solutions are regressive for a modern society like ours that claims to offer equal rights to all, why should rape victims be treated perpetually as vulnerable, and not as equal contenders for their right to live with dignity? What justice will the government offer to a victim of rape whose financial needs are nil?
At a time when human rights advocates are deliberating upon punitive laws for marital rape, is it not irresponsible to talk of financial compensation for rape victims? Like the practice of offering blood money, it will only absolve the perpetrator of legal and moral responsibility and the consequences of committing a heinous crime. If the government sincerely wants to control incidents of rape, it should allow rape cases to be handled by fast- track courts and free the administrative and law-enforcing machinery of its caste biases. There is need to ensure that another Bhanwari Devi does not waste her 15 years in the courts, without getting justice.