Pay Rs 10 lakh to three boys raped by father, uncle, Madras HC directs TN govt

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court ordered the State government to provide Rs 10 lakh each in compensation to three minor boys sexually assaulted by their father and paternal uncle.

Justice AD Jagadish Chandira thus thought it was a fit case to grant compensation as the children were subjected to assault over a period of years, resulting in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which needs continuous therapy.

The court was hearing the appeal filed by the victims' mother and guardian challenging the Pocso court order to the limited extent of compensation. The trial court had sentenced the accused father and uncle to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1.50 lakh, which was to be proportionally disbursed to the bank account of the three victim children.

In 2006, the appellant mother had married one of the accused, and her sister married the accused's brother (who is another accused) in 2011. The first couple had two sons and the other couple had one son. Both families lived together in Saudi Arabia. In 2018, the mother of two children caught the uncle showing pornographic content to the boys. She later found out that the brothers had sedated the children and forced them to cooperate for sex and inflicted burns when the boys refused.

The families later shifted to India and resided in their maternal home.
However, it was learned in 2019 that the brothers took the boys to their home and committed penetrative sexual assault on them. The mother finally lodged a complaint, a case was registered and a final report was filed for offences under Section 5(i), 5(m), 5(n), and 5(l) of the POCSO Act. The trial court found the accused guilty and sentenced them accordingly.

But the trial court refrained from granting compensation, citing that interim compensation of Rs 25,000 was already paid to each victim. Challenging this, the appeal was filed in the High Court. The mother submitted that the children had suffered incestuous aggravated penetrative sexual assault continuously for a long period of time spanning over multiple years and had developed severe PTSD and ought to have been awarded sufficient compensation.

The court noted that the Tamil Nadu Child Victim Compensation Fund was established as per a Government Order issued by the Department of Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme, and provided the minimum and maximum compensation payable to victim children. Taking the same into consideration and the relevant factors in the present case, the court noted that the maximum compensation of Rs 10 lakh was to be paid to the children.

The court thus directed the Commissioner/Director of Social Defence to disburse the compensation to the children, after adjusting the interim compensation and the fine amount. It also made it clear that the judgment was only with respect to the quantum of victim compensation and will not have any ramifications on the appeal filed by the accused.