Manodhairya Yojana: Rape, acid attack and child abuse survivors to get Rs10 lakh only in rarest of rare cases

Maharashtra government upped the maximum amount payable under the scheme from Rs3 lakh to Rs10 lakh after it was pulled up by the Bombay high court.

Though the state government ‘enhanced’ compensation for rape, acid attack and child abuse survivors from Rs3 lakh to Rs10 lakh under the Manodhairya Yojana, the amount will be given only in the rarest of the rare cases. The government upped the maximum amount payable under the scheme after it was pulled up by the Bombay high court.

As per the GR issued on August 1, the acid attack survivors can now get a plastic surgery done for free at hospitals shortlisted by the Maharashtra government. (HT file)

The enhanced compensation will be paid only to those women and children who suffer permanent mental or physical disability following a sexual assault. And to those women whose faces or body parts sustain visible damage in an acid attack.

On one hand the government has increased the maximum compensation, on the other it has capped the monetary aid offered to rape and child abuse survivors at Rs1 lakh. The changes were implemented through a GR issued on August 1.

However, the policy is likely to change after the court decided to scrutinise the GR and sought views of a 14-year-old’s lawyer Dnyanada Mahajan. A rape survivor, the teenager moved the court complaining that she did not get any assistance from the state under the Manodhairya scheme. The teenager said she was entitled to financial assistance, medical aid and counselling under the scheme.

After hearing the petition, a bench headed by Chief Justice Manjula Chellur criticised the government for capping the maximum at Rs3 lakh.

The teenager was allegedly kidnapped by a man in 2016, who sexually assaulted her at his brother’s residence. On the basis of the complaint filed by her mother on May 5, 2016, the Borivli police booked the man for kidnapping and raping the minor.

More for acid attack survivors

As per the latest GR, the acid attack survivors can now get a plastic surgery done for free at hospitals shortlisted by the government. The district and the state legal services committees have been instructed to approve the entire expenditure required such corrective treatments. Earlier, no such unlimited financial assistance was extended to the survivors and the maximum compensation given was Rs3 lakh.