Court orders child traffickers to pay Rs 11-lakh compensation to victim

Monica,a neighbour,who lured Ruby (name changed) away from her parents and sold her into prostitution for Rs 10,000,was sentenced to eight years’ rigorous imprisonment by ASJ Rathi; another woman,who pushed her into prostitution,was handed down a nine-year jail term.

The court did not stop here and the convicts were directed to give Rs 11 lakh in compensation to Ruby under provisions of a statute rarely used. “The compensation is awarded so that she can be honourably rehabilitated. The compensation shall bring some solace to her apart from sending a message to wrongdoers that once caught,they will have to shell out hefty fines apart from a long incarceration in jail,” ASJ Rathi said.

Ruby was 14 and studying in Class VIII when she was enticed away by Monica in March 2001. Monica sold her to another woman,who forced her to have physical relations with a foreigner for Rs 35,000.

She was finally bought by Neelam Cheema,who took her to Chandigarh. As per Ruby’s statement,Cheema sent her to various customers in different hotels in Chandigarh. After Ruby tried to run away from there,Cheema,on the condition that she would not tell anyone about her deeds,brought her back to Delhi. A few days later,Ruby told everything to her mother and in May 2002,a case was lodged at the Moti Nagar police station. The case was committed to the sessions court in January 2004.

When she appeared before the court for the first time,Ruby could not bear to recount her suffering and lost consciousness. It took a month for her to be in a state to testify against the accused.

ASJ Rathi also said,“Courtesy people like Monica and Cheema,India has acquired the outrageous distinction of being a hot destination for paedophiles. As stated by the CBI director in an international seminar recently,the country now occupies the unique position of not only being a source and transit nation in child trafficking but also a favoured destination for child prostitution.”

Pulling up investigating agencies,the court observed that despite incidents like Nithari,not much was being done to “safeguard the girl child from traffickers who don’t mind thrusting them into prostitution just for a few quick bucks.”

ASJ Rathi drew a parallel between the rights of an accused and the remedies available to the victims and noted: “Even though we have evolved an efficient mechanism for providing free legal aid and similar facilities for the accused,a similar infrastructure qua bringing awareness and providing financial aid to a victim of crime is still not in place.”

The court also referred to a scheme formulated by the National Commission for Women whereby a victim of sexual assault was to receive a compensation of up to Rs 2 lakh for rehabilitation apart from establishment of District Relief and Rehabilitation Boards for providing legal,medical and psychological aid to such women. The proposal,however,has not received legislative and financial sanction yet as “it appears to be stranded in the muddle of red tapism,” the court observed.

“It is high time such welfare schemes are implemented promptly and efficiently. The Ministry of Human Resource Development and its department of Women and Child Development should provide more teeth to the NCW so that it can work more effectively,” ASJ Rathi said. Newsline contacted office bearers of the NCW to know about the present status of the said scheme but they said they would take time to respond as they will have to check their files.