Compensation Scheme for Women Victims/Survivors of Sexual Assault/Other Crimes 2018 (Haryana)

What is the Compensation Scheme for Women Victims/Survivors of Sexual Assault/Other Crimes 2018?

Compensation Scheme for Women Victims/Survivors of Sexual Assault/Other Crimes 2018 is a model compensation scheme framed by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) and adopted in Haryana, where the Women and Child Development Department lists it among its women's schemes and hosts the full scheme document. The scheme provides for the grant of compensation to a woman victim, or to her dependants, in cases of sexual assault and other listed crimes.

The scheme exists because of a direction of the Supreme Court of India. The department's page records it precisely: the Hon'ble Supreme Court, in W.P. (C) No. 565/2012 titled Nipun Saxena vs. Union of India, observed that it would be appropriate for the National Legal Services Authority to constitute a Committee comprising four to five members for the purpose of framing Model Rules for Victim Compensation in cases of sexual offences and acid attacks, taking into consideration the submissions made by the learned Amicus Curiae. The learned Amicus Curiae and the learned Solicitor General of India expressed willingness to assist the Committee, and the Court further directed that the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women, or a nominee, be associated with it.

That committee's work produced the 2018 scheme, which states adopted so that a woman raped in one state and a woman raped in another would not receive wildly different sums. Uniformity across states was the point of the exercise.

What does the scheme actually provide?

Compensation Scheme for Women Victims/Survivors of Sexual Assault/Other Crimes 2018 works through a notified schedule. The schedule lists categories of loss or injury and, for each, prescribes a minimum limit and a maximum limit of compensation. The deciding authority then fixes an amount within that band on the facts of the individual case. The severity of the injury, the medical expenses incurred, loss of educational opportunity or employment, the victim's age, and whether she has been left permanently disabled or disfigured.

The categories the scheme is built around follow from the offences it was written for: loss of life, gang rape, rape, unnatural sexual assault, acid attack causing disfigurement, loss of limb or permanent disability, loss of a foetus, and loss of fertility, among others.

This guide does not reproduce the rupee figures. The Haryana Women and Child Development Department publishes the schedule inside a scanned PDF of about 6.41 MB on the scheme's page, and the figures should be read from that document or confirmed with the District Legal Services Authority, because a compensation band is precisely the kind of number that must not be quoted from memory. Read the schedule before you file, and ask the DLSA to confirm the current figures for your category.

Two features of the scheme matter as much as the amounts:

• Interim relief. A victim does not have to wait for the trial to end. The scheme provides for interim compensation so that immediate medical and subsistence needs can be met, with the balance settled later.
• Compensation is independent of conviction. An award is not a finding of guilt and is not withheld because the trial is pending or the accused was acquitted. It is a rehabilitation measure, not a share of a penalty.

Who is eligible under the scheme?

Who can claim:

• A woman who has survived sexual assault, including rape and gang rape.
• A woman who has survived an acid attack, including where the attack caused disfigurement.
• A woman who has suffered other crimes covered by the scheme, including those causing permanent disability, loss of limb, loss of a foetus or loss of fertility.
• The dependants of a woman who lost her life as a result of such a crime.
• A minor girl victim, through her guardian or through the Child Welfare Committee. Where the victim is a minor, the scheme requires the award to be safeguarded until she attains majority.

Who cannot apply, or is not eligible:

• Male victims cannot apply under this particular scheme. The 2018 scheme is written for women victims and survivors. Male and child victims are covered by the general victim compensation scheme of the state and by the separate NALSA scheme for child victims, and the District Legal Services Authority will direct a male applicant to the correct head.
• A person who has not reported the offence will struggle to establish a claim, because the FIR or complaint is the foundation of the file. Report first, then claim.
• A claim already fully compensated under another head may be adjusted. Where compensation has been received from another government source for the same injury, the authority takes that into account rather than paying twice.
• A claim found to be false or fabricated is liable to be rejected, and the scheme provides for recovery where an award was obtained by fraud.

Who administers the scheme in Haryana?

Applications under the scheme are decided by the legal services authorities. The District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) in the district, under the supervision of the State Legal Services Authority. The Women and Child Development Department, Haryana hosts the scheme and connects it to its wider support system for women, but the compensation award itself is a legal services function.

Two departmental services in Haryana sit directly alongside this scheme and are usually the first door a survivor reaches:

• One Stop Centre, a fully centrally sponsored scheme funded under the Nirbhaya Fund, which supports women affected by violence in private and public spaces, within the family, the community and the workplace. The department states that aggrieved women facing violence from attempted sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic violence, trafficking, honour-related crimes, acid attacks or witch-hunting will be provided specialised services, irrespective of age, class, caste, education status, marital status, race or culture.
• Women Helpline 181, with which the One Stop Centre is integrated.

Haryana also runs a distinct Scheme for Relief and Rehabilitation of Women Acid Victims, listed on the same departmental page. An acid attack survivor should ask about both that scheme and the 2018 compensation scheme, because they are separate heads of relief.

How to apply for compensation

1. Report the crime. Get the FIR registered at the police station, or file a complaint before the magistrate. Note the FIR number, date and police station — these identify the file at every later stage.
2. Get the medical examination done and obtain the medico-legal case (MLC) report or hospital record. The medical record decides which category of the schedule your claim falls under, so it is the single most important document after the FIR.
3. Reach the One Stop Centre or call 181, or go directly to the District Legal Services Authority in the district court complex. Legal aid at a DLSA is free.
4. File the application for compensation with the District Legal Services Authority, attaching the FIR copy, medical report, identity proof and bank account details, and a death certificate and proof of relationship if you are a dependant applying after the woman's death.
5. Ask for interim relief at the time of filing if you need money immediately for treatment or subsistence. Do not wait for the trial to conclude.
6. Attend the enquiry. The authority verifies the facts, may call for a police or medical report, and then passes an award fixing the amount within the schedule's limits for your category.
7. Receive payment into the victim's own bank account. Where the victim is a minor, the amount is safeguarded until she attains majority.

You may also file through the LSAMS portal, which NALSA lists under its e-Services for victim compensation applications, and a trial court or appellate court may itself recommend compensation in its order, which is then acted on by the legal services authority.

What documents are required?

How to check the status of a claim

1. Contact the District Legal Services Authority where the application was filed, quoting the application number and the FIR number.
2. Ask the panel lawyer or para-legal volunteer assigned to you by the DLSA, free legal aid includes representation on the compensation claim itself.
3. Call the NALSA helpline 15100, the national legal services number, for guidance on the process and on which authority holds your file.

Why claims get delayed or rejected

• No FIR on record, or an FIR registered in a different district from the one applied in.
• Medical report missing or inconclusive, so the injury cannot be placed in a schedule category.
• Bank details not in the victim's own name, which stops disbursal even after an award is passed.
• Application filed long after the incident without explanation, which invites scrutiny even though the scheme sets no hard bar.
• Compensation already received from another government source for the same injury, leading to adjustment.
• Claim filed by a male victim, which belongs under a different scheme.

If a claim is rejected, ask for the reasoned order in writing and take it to the State Legal Services Authority, or to the court trying the case, which can recommend compensation independently.

Where to get help

• NALSA legal services helpline: 15100
• Women Helpline, Haryana: 181, integrated with the One Stop Centre
• Child Help Line: 1098, where the victim is a child
• Emergency Response Support System: 112
• District Legal Services Authority in your district court complex; free legal aid and the authority that decides the claim
• One Stop Centre in your district, for medical, police, legal, psychological and shelter support in one place
• wcdhry.gov.in, under Women Schemes, where the full 2018 scheme PDF (about 6.41 MB) can be downloaded

Legal aid and the compensation application are free. No lawyer, agent or intermediary may charge a woman for filing a claim under this scheme.