"No rape victim gets compensation from the rapist," said district court judge Bhola Prasad Chaulagain, speaking at a function organized by the Informal Sector Service Center (Insec) in Chitwan Tuesday. "The court´s order does not get implemented."[break]
According to district attorney Sanjeev Regmi, the Chitwan district court has given its verdicts on as many as 18 rape cases in the first nine months of the current fiscal year. And, in eight of the 18 cases, the accused have been convicted.
"The court orders the convicts to provide compensation up to Rs 50,000," said Regmi. "But, none of the victims, even after the court orders, have come forward to claim their compensations."
In rape cases, the judges usually hand down verdicts on the basis of the ages of the victims. If the victim is under 10, the convicts may be sentenced to 10-15 years in jail. Similarly, if the victim is between 10 and 14 years of age, the convict may be sentenced to 8-12 years in prison. And, those convicted of raping 14-16 year girls may be slapped with 6-10 year jail terms.
Unlike in deciding jail terms, the judges do not consider age factor before determining the compensation amount. They usually take into account the damage, physical as well as psychological, inflicted by the rapist on the victims.
In Chitwan, most of the rape victims are usually minors. More shockingly, in eight of the 18 cases in the last nine months, the victims were below 10 years of age.
"Those who rape minors or children usually belong to poor families," said judge Chaulagain. "This is why they would not be able to compensate the victims. And, our orders just remain confined to paper."
Chaulagain says the government should have some provisions to provide financial reliefs to the rape victims if they do not get compensated by the convicts.
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