MEASURES FOR CRIME VICTIMS IN THE INDIAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Kumaravelu Chockalingam *I. INTRODUCTION
A. Impact of Crime on Victims
Crime affects the individual victims and their families. Many crimes also cause significant financial
loss to the victims. The impact of crime on the victims and their families ranges from serious physical andpsychological injuries to mild disturbances. The Canadian Centre of Justice Statistics states that about one
third of violent crimes resulted in victims having their day-to-day activities disrupted for a period of one day(31%), while in 27% of incidents, the disruption lasted for two to three days (Aucoin & Beauchamp, 2007).
In 18% of cases, victims could not attend to their routine for more than two weeks. A majority of incidents
caused emotional impact (78%). Irrespective of the type of victimization, one-fifth of the victims felt upset
and expressed confusion and or frustration due to their victimization. Overall, victims felt less safe thannon-victims. For example, only a smaller proportion of violent crime victims (37%) reported feeling verysafe walking alone after dark than non-victims (46%). Just less than one-fifth (18%) of women who had
been victims of violence reported feeling very safe walking alone after dark when compared to their malecounterparts.
B. Extent of Crime
In most countries, officially reported crimes are only the tip of the iceberg as many crimes go unreported
due to a variety of factors. Crimes such as family violence are hardly reported, for obvious reasons. Evenin the case of crimes committed outside the home, offences relating to sexual assault or sexual harassment
are also grossly under reported. The recent UN sponsored International Crime Victimization Surveys(ICVS) estimates showed that one in five of all adults will be victimized by a common crime each year, withsome of them re-victimized. Violence against women is more prevalent than against men. About twice
as many women will be victims of violence in Africa and Latin America as in Europe and Asia. In Africa,
Latin America and Asia, victimization of women through violence is more prevalent than that of men. In
large cities in Latin America and Africa, 10-15% of adult populations will become victims of violence eachyear - a rate 50% higher than that of affluent countries (Waller, 2003, p.13). The ICVS (2004) reports aninteresting result: the 10 countries with the highest crime rates comprise both very affluent countries
such as Switzerland, Ireland and Iceland, and less affluent nations (Estonia, Mexico). This goes against
the common belief that poverty is the root cause of crime. Most of the high crime countries are relatively
highly urbanized, excepting Ireland (van Dijk, Manchin, van Kesteren, Hideg, 2007 as cited in van Dijk, vanKesteren & Smit, 2007, p. 43).
C. Some Indications of Crime Statistics in India
The Code of Criminal Procedure of India divides offences as cognizable and non-cognizable. Cognizableoffences are those for which a police officer can arrest a suspect without a court warrant. Non-cognizableoffences are those for which a police officer cannot arrest a suspect without a court warrant. The recent“Crime in India” publication (Government of India, 2007) states that about 1.99 million cognizable offenceswere registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), whereas under the Special and Local Laws (SLL), 3.74
million cognizable offences were registered. In total, 5.7 million offences were registered under both the IPC
and SLL. The rate of total cognizable crimes per 100,000 persons during 2007 was 504.5, which rose from455.7 in 2006.
The percentage share of violent crimes reported was 10.8% of the total number of IPC crimes. Violent
crimes have been classified under four categories: those affecting life, those affecting property, those* Professor of Criminology and Victimology, Deputy Director, Tokiwa International Victimology Institute, Tokiwa University,
Mito, Ibaraki, Japan.

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affecting public safety, and those affecting women. Significantly, though the share of violent crimes of thetotal IPC crimes has been showing a declining trend, the share of violent crimes affecting women alone has
increased continually from 2003 to 2007. A total of 185,312 incidents of crimes against women, both under
IPC and SLL, were reported during 2007 as compared to 164,765 during 2006, recording an increase of
12.5% during 2007. For the total number of crimes under the IPC, the share of crimes against women was
8.8% in 2007. Of the total number of crimes against women, rape offences constituted 7.6%. The actual
number of victims of rape was 20,771 out of 20,737 reported rape cases in 2007. Reported rape offences
increased by 7.2% in 2007 over 2006. The number of dowry death offences (8,093) in 2007 also increased by
6.2% over the previous year.

II. OVERVIEW OF THE INDIAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
India derived its criminal justice system from the British model. There is a clear demarcation of the roleand powers and functions of the Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary. The judiciary is independent and there
is a free press. The penal philosophy in India has accepted the concepts of prevention of crime and treatment
and rehabilitation of criminals, which have been reiterated by many judgments of the Supreme Court.
Victims have no rights under the criminal justice system, and the state undertakes the full responsibility toprosecute and punish the offenders by treating the victims as mere witnesses.

A. Constitution, Criminal Law and Procedure:
The Indian criminal justice system is governed overall by four laws:(i) The Constitution of India(ii) The Indian Penal Code(iii) The Code of Criminal Procedure of India(iv) The Indian Evidence Act
The legislative power is vested with the Union Parliament and the state legislatures and the law-making
functions are divided into the Union List, State List and Concurrent List in the Indian Constitution. The
Union Parliament alone can make laws under the Union list and the state legislatures alone can make laws
under the State list, whereas both the Parliament and the State Legislatures are empowered to make lawson the subjects mentioned in the Concurrent List of the Constitution.
The Constitution of India guarantees certain fundamental rights to all citizens. Under the Constitution,
criminal jurisdiction belongs concurrently to the central government and the governments of all the states.
At the national level, two major criminal codes, the Indian Penal Code, 1861 and the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973, deal with all substantive crimes and their punishments, and the criminal procedure
respectively to be followed by the criminal justice agencies, i.e. the police, prosecution and judiciary during
the process of investigation, prosecution and trial of an offence. These two criminal laws are applicablethroughout India and take precedence over any state legislation. All major offences are defined in the Indian
Penal Code and these apply to resident foreigners and citizens alike. Besides the Indian Penal Code, many
special laws have also been enacted to tackle new crimes. The Indian criminal justice system has four subsystems which include: Legislature, (Union Parliament and State Legislatures), Law enforcement (Police),
Adjudication (Courts), and Corrections (adult and juvenile correctional institutions, Probation and other noninstitutional treatment). The legal system in India is adversarial.

III. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF VICTIMOLOGY IN INDIA
A. Evolution of Victimology in India
At present, a crime victim or a complainant is only a witness for the prosecution. Whereas the accusedhas several rights, the victim has no right to protect his or her interest during criminal proceedings.
Sometimes, even the registering of a criminal case in the police station depends upon the mercy of thepolice officer: victims suffer injustice silently and in extreme cases, take the law into their own hands andseek revenge on the offender.
Though no separate law for victims of crime has yet been enacted in India, the silver lining is that victim
justice has been rendered through affirmative action and orders of the apex court. Besides, many national
level Commissions and Committees have strongly advocated victims’ rights and reiterated the need for98THE 144th INTERNATIONAL SENIOR SEMINAR
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a victims’ law. Studies on crime victims by researchers started in India only during the late 1970s. Early
studies were on victims of dacoit gangs (i.e. gangs of armed robbers) in the Chambal valley (Singh, 1978);victims of homicide (Rajan & Krishna, 1981); and victims of motor vehicles accidents (Khan & Krishna,1981). Singh and Jatar (1980) studied whether compensation paid to victims of dacoits in Chambal Valley was
satisfactory or not. Since the 1980s, many scholars have conducted studies in Victimology, which have been
published.*

B. Initiatives in Victimology in South India
In 1984, for the first time in India, an exclusive three day Seminar on Victimology was organizedinvolving researchers, academics and practitioners from the CJS. I organized the Seminar when I was Headof the Department of Criminology of the University of Madras (Chockalingam, 1985b).
After 1990, the Department began to offer Victimology as one of the courses or electives for its Master’s
degree in Criminology and many students took interest and opted to study the subject of Victimology. Many
students who joined for doctoral research under my supervision worked on victim related topics such as
Fear of Crime Victimization, Rape Victims, Sexual Harassment of Women Victims, Victims of Human Rights
Violations etc. to mention a few, and earned their doctoral degrees from the University of Madras. Besides,
many Master’s degree students in Criminology also did projects on victimological topics and made empiricalinvestigations and added to the victimological literature. Some research projects I conducted under the
grants sanctioned by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (Chockalingam, 1993b), Thiruvalluvar
Criminology Research Foundation (Chockalingam, 1997) and the University Grants Commission(Chockalingam, 2001) etc. include Psycho-social and Legal Study of Rape Victims; Crime Victimization
Survey in four major cities in the State of Tamil Nadu; and Victims of Corruption. Reports of each of theseprojects were produced.

C. Establishment of the Indian Society of Victimology (ISV)In August 1992, with my initiative, a forum was founded to discuss the problems of victims, todisseminate knowledge and awareness of the plight of crime victims and to mobilize support for creatinga new law for victims. The name of the organization was the Indian Society of Victimology, and it was
located in the University of Madras. I was the Founder President and two other senior high ranking police
officers, Dr. R. K. Raghavan and Mr. Venkatesan, were Vice Presidents. The ISV organized many seminars
and symposia and biennial conferences in Chennai and other capital cities on subjects of topical interest in
the field of Victimology. The major contribution of the ISV to the advancement of victimology in India was
the organization of a workshop to draft a Victim Assistance Bill. This occurred in September 1996 withthe support of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore under the leadership of Professor N.
R. Madhava Menon and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) under the Chairmanship of thechampion of human rights and victim justice, and former justice of the Indian Supreme Court, V. R. Krishna
Iyer. The draft bill on Victim Assistance (Indian Society of Victimology, 1996) prepared by the ISV was sent
to relevant Ministries, such as the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of Home Affairs and the
Law Commission of India, NHRC, to consider enacting a national law on victim compensation/assistance inIndia. The UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Vienna also supported the initiativeof the ISV by writing to the Home and Law Ministries of the Government of India to encourage it toconsider enacting a victim law, treating the draft bill on Victim Assistance prepared by the ISV as a model.
Simultaneously, efforts were taken by the ISV to impress upon the State Government of Tamil Nadu theadvantages of creating a Victim Assistance Fund for the benefit of crime victims within the state of Tamil
Nadu. In consequence, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu announced in the Legislative Assembly in
April 1995 the introduction of a new scheme to provide monetary assistance to certain categories of victimsof violent crime and allocated ten million rupees as a first step for the scheme (Government of Tamil Nadu,
1995; Government of Tamil Nadu, 1997). Under the scheme, victims of homicide or their bereaved relatives,
victims of serious physical injuries including rape, and victims of grievous hurt were eligible for monetary
1 Bajpai, 1988; Bajpai, 1997; Bajpai, 2006; Chockalingam, 1985a; Chockalingam, 1985b; Chockalingam, 1988; Chockalingam,

1992; Chockalingam, 1993a; Chockalingam, 1995; Chockalingam, 1999; Chockalingam, 2000; Chockalingam, 2003a;
Chockalingam, 2003b; Chockalingam, 2005; Chockalingam, 2007; Chockalingam, 2008; Chockalingam & Srinivasan, 1993;
Chockalingam & Srinivasan, 1995; Chockalingam & Srinivasan, 2007; Chockalingam & Srinivasan, 2008; Chockalingam &Srinivasan, 2009;Chockalingam & Vijaya, 2008; Jaishankar, 2007; Rajan,1981; Senthilathiban & Chockalingam, 1984.

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assistance from the government, though it is not a right of the victim as it is not a law but only an Executive
order of the Government (Chockalingam, 2003a).

IV. BASIC CONCEPTS AND THEORY OF VICTIMOLOGY
A. Basic Concepts
Diverse views exist on the focus and place of the discipline of Victimology. While some believe that
Victimology should function as an independent area of enquiry, others view it as a subfield of Criminology.
A second issue concerns the breadth of victim related issues to be covered in the field of Victimology. Somescholars advocate that Victimology should limit itself to the study of victim-offender interaction. Othersargue that the needs of crime victims, functioning of the organizations and institutions which respond tothese needs, and the emerging roles and responsibility for crime victims within the CJS are important areasof inquiry for Victimology. A third issue is the breadth of the definition of the term ‘victim’. One approach is
to limit the concept to victims of traditional crimes such as murder, rape, robbery, burglary etc. However, it
has also been proposed to include a broader definition of the concept by covering groups such as prisoners,
immigrants, subjects of medical experimentation, and persons charged with crime but not proved guilty(Doerner & Lab, 2005; Karmen, 2005).
Victim-offender study was the central focus of early pioneers in the field of Victimology, like Hans vonHentig. Hentig explained the concepts of ‘victim vulnerability’ and ‘victim culpability’ and gave a typology ofvictims. ‘Victim vulnerability’ refers to susceptibility of certain groups of people to victimization, through nofault of their own, but based on certain demographic or other characteristics (e.g. children, elders, women),as these people are more vulnerable to becoming victims. ‘Victim culpability’ refers to actions on the partof victims that may either invite or precipitate victimization. Deriving from the concept of victim culpability,
Wolfgang (1958, p. 254) proposed the concept of ‘Victim Precipitation’, and in his classic study of homicide
victims in Philadelphia, he found that in 26% of homicides, victim precipitation occurred. Although somebehaviour of victims may be partially responsible for their victimization, Victimologists are also talking of
the danger of ‘victim blaming ’. Besides, in Penal or Criminal Victimology, where only the crime victims were
included, Beniamin Mendelsohn proposed a new approach called ‘General Victimology’, to include a wide
variety of victims, as he felt that human beings suffer from many causal factors and focusing on the criminal
victimization alone under Victimology is too narrow a perspective. According to Mendelsohn (1976:21),“Just as medicine treats all patients and all diseases, just as criminology concerns itself with all criminals
and all forms of crime, so Victimology must concern itself with all victims and all aspects of victimity inwhich society takes an interest”.
Victimology institutionalized by the World Society of Victimology could be defined as “the scientific studyof the extent, nature and causes of criminal victimization, its consequences for the persons involved andthe reactions thereto by society, in particular, the police and the criminal justice system as well as voluntary
workers and professional helpers” (van Dijk, 1999). This is a comprehensive definition encompassing
both penal or interactionist, and general or assistance oriented Victimology. The UN Declaration (UNGeneral Assembly 1985) on victims describes victims thus: “Victims means persons who, individually orcollectively, have suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or
substantial impairment of their fundamental rights, through acts or omissions that are in violation of criminal
laws, including those proscribing abuse of power.” In the recent decades, many scholars also express theview that while the General Victimology of Mendelsohn is too broad an approach, criminal victimology is
too narrow a perspective and suggest that Victimology should evolve as a science of victims of human rights
violations, including crime.

B. Theories in Victimology
Victimology does not have many theories exclusively from the perspective of victims. However, someof the theoretical explanations from Criminology of crime causation are borrowed by Victimologists tounderstand crime victimization. One such theory is the Routine Activities Theory (Cohen & Felson, 1979).
C. The Routine Activities Theory
This theory says that crime occurs whenever three conditions come together: (i) suitable targets; (ii)motivated offenders; and (iii) absence of guardians.

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D. Psycho-social Coping Theory
Psycho-social coping is a general theoretical model from which any form of victimological phenomena
can be explained. The model uses behavioural versus legal concepts. Phenomenology, Control Theory,
Stress Theory, Symbolic Interactionism and Behaviourism are the primary roots of this theoretical model.
Most part of the literature on coping has evolved from psychology, dealing with just cognitive responses tovarious forms of stress (Dussich, 1988). According to Pearlin and Schooler (1978), coping refers to “things
that people do to avoid being harmed by life-strains”. To understand how and why some victims are able
to overcome life’s problems and some others not, a psycho-social coping model was developed in order tocomprehensively deal with psychic, social and physical variables.
A psycho-social coping model is an attempt to explain the dynamics of how people deal with problems
in their environment. The term “environment” used in this model is referred to as ‘Coping Milieu’. The
main term in the Coping Milieu is the Coping Repertoire, which is made up of a person’s coping skills andsupported by four other interacting resources: (i) time; (ii) social assets; (iii) psychic assets; and (iii) physicalassets. The coping process is the dynamic component of the model and is made up of four sequential phases:••••

Prevention
Preparation
Action, andReappraisal

The result component of the coping model is concerned with: (i) either the elimination, (ii) reduction,or (iii) retention of stress. The information obtained from the coping process is fed back to the coping
repertoire and in turn the original coping repertoire is altered. The repertoire, problems, coping processes
and the products are the key elements of coping (Dussich, 1988; Dussich, 2006). Both social and physicalresources help the individuals to deal with stress in specific situations.

V. CURRENT SITUATION OF VICTIMS OF CRIME AT EACH STAGE OF THE CRIMINALJUSTICE PROCESS IN INDIA IN COMPARISON TO INTERNATIONL STANDARDSThe Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power (UN General
Assembly, 1985), considered the ‘magna carta ’ for victims, provides the basic framework of principles
which in the last two decades have been vociferously debated and converted as victims’ rights by some ofthe developed countries. The international standards expected of the countries in the treatment of victimsby the CJS agencies at different stages of the criminal process have been elaborately detailed in the UN
Handbook on Justice for Victims (United Nations Office for Drugs and Crimes, 1999, chapter III, pp.56-76).
The police play a pivotal role in victim assistance as it is the first agency victims come into contact with after
being victimized by a crime. The attitude of the victims towards the entire CJS will be based on the kind oftreatment the victims get from the police whom they first encounter. Unfortunately, in India the police arestill not oriented to meet the expectations of the victims as per the UN Handbook on Justice for Victims.
The police at the field level who are in actual contact with the victims in day–to-day crime situations areblissfully ignorant of the international developments in the field of Victimology and the better treatment
victims deserve from the police. The treatment of victims by the police also forms the basis for a negative
perception of the CJS, more particularly, the police, because the “treatment with compassion and respect for
their dignity”, emphasized by the UN Declaration, is missing completely. Because of the police behaviour
and their attitude in general, the legal community opposes any criminal law reforms which bestow trust on
the police and enhance their powers. Even today, Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act, “No confession
made to a police officer shall be proved as against a person accused of any offence”, remains in force. But
the Government and the Police Academies pursue a policy of sensitizing the police to a better treatmentof victims. The Handbook says that “victims have a valid interest in the prosecution of the case and should
be involved at all stages of the proceedings”. In practice, the entire court proceedings protect the rights
and interest of the accused, neglecting the victims’ interest. Excepting that the victims are summoned totender evidence in courts, the various services and assistance to be rendered by the prosecution to victims(p.66-68) are not practiced in the criminal courts in India. In a nutshell, victims are alien to the criminal
proceedings as they have no rights excepting to be a witness when summoned by the court. With regard to
the role of the judiciary in justice for victims, though judges are by and large sympathetic towards victims,
on many of the requirements, such as separate waiting halls, information about the criminal proceedings,

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special services and support, ordering of restitution to victims, victim participation, victim protection etc.
(p.69-72) we have a long way to go to realize victim justice in India.
However, in the last decade, there is greater awareness on the part of the higher judiciary of the needfor a better treatment of crime victims by the criminal justice agencies at different stages in India and thisis reflected in the recommendations of the different committees and commissions calling for reforms in
the criminal justice system to improve the existing conditions and situations of victims during the criminal
justice process and some of the landmark judgments of the apex court in India.

A. Affirmative Action by the Higher Judiciary
1. Restitution to Victims
Despite the absence of any special legislation to render justice to victims in India, the Supreme Court has
taken a proactive role and resorted to affirmative action to protect the rights of victims of crime and abuseof power. The court has adopted the concept of restorative justice and awarded compensation or restitution
or enhanced the amount of compensation to victims, beginning from the 1980s. (Sukhdev Singh vs . State of
Punjab (1982 SCC (Cr) 467), Balraj vs . State of U . P . (1994 SCC (Cr) 823), Giani Ram vs . State of Haryana(AIR 1995 SC 2452), Baldev Singh vs . State of Punjab (AIR 1996 SC 372).
2. Justice for Rape Victims - Guidelines for Victim Assistance
In Bodhisattwa Gautam vs . Subhra Chakraborty (AIR 1996 SC 922), the Supreme Court held that if
the court trying an offence of rape has jurisdiction to award compensation at the final stage, the Court also
has the right to award interim compensation. The court, having satisfied the prima facie culpability of theaccused, ordered him to pay a sum of Rs.1000 every month to the victim as interim compensation along witharrears of compensation from the date of the complaint. It is a landmark case in which the Supreme Court
issued a set of guidelines to help indigenous rape victims who cannot afford legal, medical and psychologicalservices, in accordance with the Principles of UN Declaration of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse ofPower, 1985:(i)	The complainants of sexual assault cases should be provided with a victim’s Advocate who is wellacquainted with the CJS to explain to the victim the proceedings, and to assist her in the police
station and in Court and to guide her as to how to avail of psychological counselling or medical
assistance from other agencies;(ii)	Legal assistance at the police station while she is being questioned;(iii)	The police should be under a duty to inform the victim of her right to representation before any
questions are asked of her and the police report should state that the victim was so informed;(iv)	A list of Advocates willing to act in these cases should be kept at the police station for victims whoneed a lawyer;(v)	The Advocate shall be appointed by the Court, in order to ensure that victims are questioned
without undue delay;(vi)	In all rape trials, anonymity of the victims must be maintained;(vii)	It is necessary, having regard to the Directive Principles contained under Art. 38 (1) of theConstitution of India, to set up a Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. Rape victims frequently
incur substantial financial loss. Some, for example, are too traumatized to continue in employment;(viii)	Compensation for victims shall be awarded by the Court on conviction of the offender and by the
Criminal Injuries Compensation Board whether or not a conviction has taken place. The Board willtake into account pain, suffering and shock as well as loss of earnings due to pregnancy and theexpenses of childbirth if this occurred as a result of the rape.
3. State Compensation for Victims of Abuse of PowerAs early as 1983, the Supreme Court recognized the need for state compensation in cases of abuse of
power by the State machinery. In the landmark case of Rudul Sah vs . State of Bihar (AIR 1983 SC 1086),
the Supreme Court ordered the Government of Bihar to pay to Rudul Sah a further sum of Rs.30,000 ascompensation, which according to the court was of a “palliative nature”, in addition to a sum of Rs.5,000,
in a case of illegal incarceration of the victim for long years. Similarly in Saheli , a Women ’s Resources
Centre through Mrs . Nalini Bhanot vs . Commissioner of Police , Delhi Police (AIR 1990 SC 513), the Court

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awarded a sum of Rs.75, 000 as state compensation to the victim’s mother, holding that the victim died due
to beating by the police. In another landmark case of D . K . Basu vs . State of West Bengal (AIR 1997 SC 610),
the Supreme Court held that state compensation is mandatory in cases of abuse of power and said that “To
repair the wrong done and give judicial redress for legal injury is a compulsion of judicial conscience”.

B. Recommendations of Commissions and Committees on Justice to Victims in India
During the last decade, there has been significant change in the thinking of the judiciary about the humanrights of victims. The concern of the courts and the judicial commissions and committees about the needto have a law on victim compensation or a comprehensive law on victim justice has been reflected in their
judgments and reports.
1. The Law Commission of India, 1996
The Law Commission, in its report in 1996, stated that, “The State should accept the principle ofproviding assistance to victims out of its own funds, (i) in cases of acquittals; or (ii) where the offender is nottraceable, but the victim is identified; and (iii) also in cases when the offence is proved” (Law Commission ofIndia Report, 1996).
2. The Justice Malimath Committee on Reforms of Criminal Justice System (Government of India, 2003)
The Justice V. S. Malimath Committee has made many recommendations of far-reaching significance toimprove the position of victims of crime in the CJS, including the victim’s right to participate in cases and toadequate compensation. Some of the significant recommendations include:• T he victim, and if he is dead, his or her legal representative, shall have the right to be impleaded as aparty in every criminal proceeding where the offence is punishable with seven years’ imprisonment or
more;• I n select cases, with the permission of the court, an approved voluntary organization shall also havethe right to implead in court proceedings;• T he victim has a right to be represented by an advocate and the same shall be provided at the cost of
the State if the victim cannot afford a lawyer;• The victim’s right to participate in criminal trial shall include the right:	to produce evidence; to ask questions of the witnesses; to be informed of the status of investigationand to move the court to issue directions for further investigation; to be heard on issues relating tobail and withdrawal of prosecution; and to advance arguments after the submission of the prosecutor’sarguments;• T he right to prefer an appeal against any adverse order of acquittal of the accused, convicting for alesser offence, imposing inadequate sentence, or granting inadequate compensation;• L egal services to victims may be extended to include psychiatric and medical help, interim
compensation, and protection against secondary victimization;• V ictim compensation is a State obligation in all serious crimes. This is to be organized in separate
legislation by Parliament. The draft bill on the subject submitted to Government in 1995 by the IndianSociety of Victimology provides a tentative framework for consideration;• T he Victim Compensation Law will provide for the creation of a Victim Compensation Fund to beadministered possibly by the Legal Services Authority. (Government of India, 2003).
3. The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution
The Commission to review the working of the Constitution (Government of India, 2002) has advocated a
victim-orientation to criminal justice administration, with greater respect and consideration towards victims
and their rights in the investigative and prosecution processes, provision for greater choices to victims intrial and disposition of the accused, and a scheme of reparation/compensation particularly for victims ofviolent crimes.

VI. RECENT LAWS TO CARE FOR AND PROTECT SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF VICTIMS
There are also significant developments in the form of new laws to promote the cause of victims and to
mitigate the sufferings of potential victims of vulnerable sections of the population such as women, children

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and elders. The recent enactments passed by the Parliament have a significant bearing on preventing
victimization and giving relief to victims:

A. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
“The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005” is a major achievement of the women’s
movement towards protection of domestic violence victims after a struggle of 16 years. This Act aims
to provide for more effective protection of the rights of women guaranteed under the Constitution. The
definition of domestic violence is wide enough to include physical, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse. The
unique feature of the Act is that it prohibits denying the victim “continued access to resources or facilities
which the aggrieved person (victim) is entitled to use or enjoy by virtue of the domestic relationship,including access to the shared household”. A police officer, protection officer or a magistrate who hasreceived a complaint of domestic violence has a mandatory duty to inform the victim of her right to obtaina protection order or an order of monetary relief, a custody order, a residence order, a compensation orderor more than one such order and the availability of the services of service providers, protection officers,
and the right to free legal services under this Act. A violation of the protection order by the respondent is
an offence which can result in imprisonment for one year or a fine up to Rs.20,000 or both. If the protection
officer refuses to discharge his duties, he shall be punished with imprisonment for one year or with a fine of
20,000 rupees or with both.
B. The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007
This is also an innovative law aiming to protect elders and prevent elder abuse and victimization, which isa growing problem in many countries, including India. Under this law, an obligation is created of the children
or adult legal heirs to maintain their parents, or senior citizens above the age of 60 years who are unable tomaintain themselves out of their own earnings, to enable them to lead a normal life. If children or legal heirs
neglect or refuse to maintain the senior citizen, the Tribunal can pass an order asking the children or legal
heirs to make a monthly allowance for their maintenance.
C. Prevention of Child Abuse and Victim Protection
Empowering the child is the road to prevention from abuse and victimization. To empower the child,education is the tool. Therefore, primary education for children has been made a fundamental right as per
the decision of the Supreme Court of India in Unnikrishnan ’s Case (1993). Article 21-A of the Constitution
states that “The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age 6-14 years
in such manner as the State may by law determine”. The proposal also will have a positive impact oneradication of child labour. The spread of elementary education through constitutional measures would havea good impact on other social indicators like population growth, health and women’s development as well as
enhancement of productivity of the economy and reduction in unemployment.
1. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)
This Commission was set up in March 2007 and its mandate is to ensure that all Laws, Policies,
Programmes, and Administrative Mechanisms are in consonance with the Child Rights perspective asenshrined in the Constitution of India and also the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (see atGovernment of India, 2009). India ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992
and this Act was passed as one of the necessary steps to protect the rights of children in the country. The
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has been taking up various issues brought forth in thearea of child abuse. After inquiry, the National Commission can recommend initiation of proceedings forprosecution or any other action it may deem fit.

D. Prevention of Caste-Based Victimization and Protection for Victims: The Scheduled Castes andthe Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
This is an act to prevent atrocities against the members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Under this Act, compensation to victims is mandatory, besides several other reliefs depending on the typeof atrocity. The victims are entitled to receive monetary compensation ranging from Rs. 25,000 to 200,000
depending on the gravity of the offence.

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VII. CONCLUSION:
CHALLENGES AND PROPOSAL FOR MEASURES FOR VICTIMS IN INDIAIn the process of prevention of victimization and the protection of victims, there are many challenges
faced in India which are being tackled through some positive measures. Some of the challenges and thecountermeasures include:

A. No Separate Law for Crime Victims Yet
But continuous efforts are going on to enact a national law for victims. The ISV’s Victim Bill is a modeldraft Bill.
B. Corruption in the Indian Criminal Justice System
Corruption by public officials erodes the entire health of the society and victimizes people in all sectionsof the population. Many steps to reduce the level of corruption and accumulation of illegal wealth have beentaken by the Government. Declaration of assets and wealth by judges of the higher judiciary and ministers of
the government is a recently introduced example.
C. Empowerment of Women to Prevent Victimization of Women
Serious efforts to change the traditional submissive and victimized role of women have been taken
up by NGOs and the Government. One attempt is the consistent struggle and active efforts by women’sorganizations to get more political power for women in the form of representation in the Parliament, statelegislatures and local bodies through a 33% reservation of seats for women in these bodies. Women havealready succeeded in getting representation in local self-government but the struggle continues to get
reservations for women in Parliament and state legislatures. Many concessions, special privileges and tax
rebates are provided for female students to encourage them in higher education and employment, and toencourage senior women citizens in economic self-reliance. The Cradle Baby scheme of the Tamil Nadu
State Government is a step towards protecting female babies and preventing female infanticide.
D. Empowerment of Children
Making primary education a fundamental right under the Constitution is a leaping step to empowerchildren as education is the tool for development. The implementation of this right will have a bearing onother kinds of victimization such as child labour. Strengthening the Noon Meal scheme in the schools for thechildren in Tamil Nadu and the introduction of this scheme in other states will attract more children from thedisadvantaged sections of the society to schools to pursue study.
E. Major Challenge is Implementation
Transparency and honesty among the politicians who make policies and the commitment of government
officials who are charged with the responsibility for implementation are the big challenge. Whereas thesituation of victims has not been satisfactory in India, developed countries, including the United Kingdom,
have gone far ahead to render victim justice, but the expectations and aspirations of victims remain higheven in those countries which do not match the accomplishments made elsewhere. The UK enacted
the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act in 1995. The Home Office in the UK, in its report “Criminal
Justice: The Way Ahead”, in 2001, found that “many victims felt that the rights of the accused of a crime
take precedence over theirs in criminal proceedings”. During the long proceedings of investigation andtrial, victims are not kept informed or provided with a sense of security. Very often, victims are expected
to appear in courts for cases, which are adjourned even without their notice, or they are subjected tounnecessarily stressful courtroom experiences. The agencies meant to help victims do not always
understand and respond effectively to their needs. This revelation has made the UK recommend somemeasures to balance its system of justice. Hence, victim justice has not been achieved in full even incountries where lots of developments have been made. We have to pursue the matter vigorously with thegovernments and with civil society to realize the basic provisions envisioned in the UN Declaration ofVictims in the majority of developing countries.

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CASE LAW
Bodhisattwa Gautam vs . Subhra Chakraborty (AIR 1996 SC 922)
Balraj vs . State of U .P . (1994 SCC (Cr ) 823)
Baldev Singh vs . State of Punjab (AIR 1996 SC 372)
D .K . Basu vs . State of West Bengal (AIR 1997 SC 610)
Giani Ram vs . State of Haryana (AIR 1995 SC 2452)
Mrs . Nalini Bhanot vs . Commissioner of Police , Delhi Police (AIR 1990 SC 513)
Rudul Sah vs . State of Bihar (AIR 1983 SC 1086)
Sukhdev Singh vs . State of Punjab (1982 SCC (Cr ) 467)

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