Notifying a new “victim compensation policy”, the Punjab Cabinet on Monday approved the princely sum of `30,000 for women who fall prey to rapists and `40,000 for victims who lose an arms or a leg. The monetary compensation policy, which has been formulated following directions from the Punjab and Haryana high court, seeks to recompense victims or their dependants who suffer injury or loss as a result of a crime where the perpetrator goes unpunished.
While the new policy make no mention of the premise or methodology employed to calculate the cost of injury or loss, the Cabinet also approved `1 lakh for death (loss of life) and `20,000 for “loss or injury causing severe mental agony to women and child victims in cases like human trafficking”.
Based on available data on the annual occurrence of various offences, the council of ministers endorsed the setting aside of `7 crores to pay out compensations in 2011-2012 and `4 crores for the remaining quarter of the current fiscal.