Lucknow, Oct. 24:
The Allahabad High Court has ruled that a survivor of sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act cannot be denied compensation merely because a medical examination did not record physical injuries.
A division bench comprising Justice Shekhar B Saraf and Justice Amitabh Kumar Rai directed the authorities to pay ā¹3 lakh to a minor under the Uttar Pradesh Rani Lakshmi Bai Mahila Samman Kosh scheme. The payment must be made within 10 days of the production of a certified copy of the courtās order.
The case arose from an FIR registered at Sarojini Nagar police station in Lucknow on December 7, 2022. A chargesheet was filed on January 13, 2023.
The district steering committee had withheld compensation on the ground that the medical report did not contain evidence supporting penetrative sexual assault. The state counsel defended the decision, arguing that the medical examination had not recorded injuries indicating penetration.
Rejecting this reasoning, the High Court observed that physical injuries were not a necessary condition for establishing penetrative sexual assault under Section 3 of the POCSO Act. The absence of injury marks, by itself, could not negate an allegation of sexual assault, the bench held.
The court further observed that once the FIR and chargesheet indicated an offence under Section 4 of the Act, compensation could not be denied solely because the medical report did not document injuries.
Under the scheme, eligible survivors of sexual assault are entitled to compensation of ā¹3 lakh. Of this, ā¹1 lakh is payable within 15 days of the FIR being registered, while the remaining ā¹2 lakh must be paid within a month of the chargesheet being filed.
Describing the scheme as a welfare measure intended to alleviate the trauma and suffering of victims, the court said its provisions must be interpreted liberally.