HT impact: Jharkhand govt to pay Rs 1 lakh to kin of raped minor

The Jharkhand High Court on Saturday asked the state government to provide financial assistance of Rs one lakh to the family of a raped minor who was left with a ruptured intestine after a brutal attack in East Singbhum district.

The Jharkhand High Court on Saturday asked the state government to provide financial assistance of Rs one lakh to the family of a raped minor who was left with a ruptured intestine after a brutal attack in East Singbhum district.

The directive came after the high court took suo moto cognizance of a Hindustan Times report highlighting the plight of the nine-year-old girl and her daily wager father who has to carry her every day for more than four km to the nearest health centre for treatment of her wounds.

The report in the August 29 edition of HT had also highlighted the economic condition of the family – based in Hatiapata village of Dumaria block -- which cannot even afford a bicycle.

Though the minor is said to be out of danger, she needs daily dressing of the wounds she suffered during the attack.

Read |

Moved by the report, chief justice Virender Singh held court at his residence on Saturday, a holiday, and passed the judicial order to the government after initiating a PIL in the matter.

“The state of Jharkhand through its chief secretary, without prejudice to any other rights or remedies of victim family in any other proceedings, is also directed to pay interim compensation to the tune of Rs 1 lakh to victim’s family immediately and report compliance of such payment to the court on or before September 1, 2015 by 10.30 am positively,” the CJ said.

He also directed the East Singhbhum deputy commissioner to furnish a detailed report on the steps taken by the administration to alleviate the suffering of the rape survivor.

The CJ asked the member-secretary of the Jharkhand State Legal Services Authority (JHALSA) to keep in touch with the chairman, District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), East Singhbhum, to ensure that “best medical assistance, care and protection” could be provided to the suvivor.

The court directed its registry to lodge this case as a PIL and list it before the division bench of the high court as the first item on September 1, the next date of hearing.

The girl was raped in early July by a 42-year-old driver who lured her with chocolates. He then abandoned the severely bleeding girl with a ruptured intestine
by a riverside.

The young girl later identified the accused, one Surendra Sardar, after police nabbed him a few days later while trying to rape another minor.

The minor was admitted to a local hospital where her condition worsened and had to be rushed to Jamshedpur for better treatment, but doctors there couldn’t stop the bleeding and referred her to a Ranchi hospital.

She underwent surgery in Ranchi to remove her damaged intestines.

The father said that the daily medical treatment is taking toll on the meager finances of the family, compounded by the fact that he has not been able to work on a regular basis.

“I am unable to go for work as this is a priority. We have exhausted whatever we had in the name of savings. We are deep in debt now,” the distraught father had told HT.

Responding to an appeal, HT has so far received more than 800 emails offering help by people from across the globe.