Kolkata: Calcutta High Court on Monday directed the State Legal Services Authority to ensure that a rape survivor receives compensation under the victim compensation scheme, even though the incident occurred in 1998 — before the scheme was introduced in 2017 — observing that she “must not be deprived of such opportunity”. The court also upheld the conviction of the accused.Justice Chaitali Chatterjee (Das) held that the incident occurred before 2017, when Section 357A of CrPC was introduced, mandating every state govt, in coordination with the Centre, to formulate a victim compensation scheme. The compensation, the court noted, is in addition to any fine imposed on the accused.“But being a victim of sexual assault she must not be deprived of such opportunity since the provision was not incorporated,” the judge held, while directing the the State Legal Services Authority to ensure that the survivor avails the benefit.The incident dates back to Oct 23, 1998, when a complaint was lodged with Asansol PS alleging that the survivor was raped by her brother’s friend. Initially, she remained silent hoping that the accused would marry her. She later became pregnant. The complaint was eventually filed after the man refused to marry her and did not visit her at the hospital during or after childbirth.In 2003, the accused was convicted under the IPC provision dealing with rape, following which he challenged the verdict before Calcutta HC in 2004. The high court judge upheld the lower court’s order and held: “Corroboration is not a sine qua non in sexual offence if the evidence of the victim inspires confidence and in this case the victim throughout withstand the cross examination.”
