11 Oct 2023 4:13 PM GMT
The Supreme Court has observed that whenever a child is subjected to sexual assault, the State or the Legal Services Authorities should ensure that the child is provided with a facility of counselling by a trained child counsellor or child psychologist. Because, it will help the victim children to come out of the trauma, which will enable them to lead a better life in future.
The Court further stated that the State should ensure that the children who are the victims of the offence continue with their education.
"The social environment around the victim child may not always be conducive to the victim's rehabilitation. Only the monetary compensation is not enough. Only the payment of compensation will not amount to rehabilitation in a true sense."observed a bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal.
"Perhaps the rehabilitation of the girl victims in life should be part of the “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” campaign of the Central Government. As a welfare State, it will be the duty of the Government to do so. We are directing that the copies of this judgment should be sent to the Secretaries of the concerned departments of the State." the bench added.
The Court directed its Registry to forward a copy of this judgment to the Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Child Development of the Central Government to enable the Government to take appropriate action in terms of the above observations.
The bench made these observations in the judgment deciding an appeal filed by the State of Rajasthan High Court challenging the order passed by the Rajasthan High Court reducing the sentence awarded to a convict for the rape of a girl child from life term to twelve years. The Supreme Court did not restore the life sentence awarded by the trial court but directed that the convict must serve a sentence of 14 years without remission. The Court considered the young age of the accused (22 years) as one of the mitigating factors.
The Court also directed the Secretary of the Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority to ensure that compensation under the relevant victim compensation scheme is immediately paid to the victim as per her entitlement, if not already paid.
Also from the judgment - Caste Or Religion Of Litigant Should Never Be Mentioned In Judgments : Supreme Court To All Courts
Case Title : State of Rajasthan v. Gautam s/o Mohanlal
Citation : 2023 LiveLaw (SC) 875
Click here to read the judgment