VICTIMS OF CRIME AND THEIR DILEMMA

Being human is given; but keeping our humanity is a choice. But when it comes to treatment of victims in India, people tend to lose their humanity. Victims are the one who has suffered the loss due to some act of other person, but they are the one who are being taunted and blamed, not served with proper service by the agencies of criminal justice system and not treated fairly by both the society and the system. The therapy which was supposed to be oriented towards victims of crime is deviating from its path, due to which the present criminal justice system is unable to protect, assist, restitute and compensate them adequately. In India, crime victims play a very insignificant role and are not given the attention needed. There is a need to be sensitization of the criminal justice system towards the victims to meet the requirements of the respect, fair treatment and consideration of victims. The most needed remedy in this matter is formation of separate laws for victims and proper use of existing provisions of providing adequate compensation/restitution to victims.

At the present times, the person who has filed the complaint or the victim of the crime is only a witness for the process of prosecution, also the victim has no rights for the protection of his/her interest during criminal proceedings whereas the offender or the accused is served with several rights. If we get into the real world, a victim even struggles to file the complaint against the offender as registering of a case in a police station, many times is dependent on the mercy of the police officer. In this world, victims are the one who has to suffer many injustices and this is the reason why many of them try to take law into their own hands to seek revenge from the accused/ offender.  

There are many challenges faced by victims in India during the process of protection of victims and prevention of victimization, which can be addressed through some positive and significant measure. The first and the foremost challenge is being ‘no separate laws for victims’, which is need of an hour and continuous efforts are needed to be made for the enactment of national law for victims. Secondly, Corruption in the Indian Criminal Justice system degrades the health of the victimized people and the society. In India, victims who are women are more victimized than men, which is another challenge. Fourth, Child victim needs to be empowered through education for their development, this can be done using the primary education right provided under the Indian Constitution. Last, but the major challenge is the implementation. In India, the position of victims has not been adequate and fair, whereas some developed countries like UK have made many efforts to deliver justice to victims. Victims are not provided with a sense of security or kept informed, during the long proceedings of trial & investigation. The agencies which are supposed to help the victims do not always understands and respond effectively to their problems and needs. The attitude of an individual person who maybe family, friend or colleague to the victim, also affects him/her. These individuals may wish to distance themselves from the crime by blaming the victim for what has occurred. They may consider the behavior of the victim responsible, contributed or even caused, the victimization. In many cases, they even deny the impact of the crime on the victim and ask them too to ignore it and forget about it, and continue with his/ her life. In most of the cases, victims do not find the support of their families to tackle the situation and the impact of the crime on the victim. 

The position of victim treatment in India can be better understood by analyzing the cases – In the case of Vishaka & Ors. v. State of Rajasthan, AIR 1997 SC 3011, the victim was not treated with respect or dignity, was taunted and blamed. Victim didn’t receive proper medical attention or police service. This shows how victims in India are treated. They are blamed for what happened to them, it is presumed that they have invited the trouble to themselves and aren’t ensured with the rights they deserve by police and doctor itself, who are supposed to be protecting and assisting them. The case of Rudul Sah v. State of Bihar, (1983) 4 SCC 141, is considered particularly important as it was the foundation for the emergence of compensatory jurisprudence for the infringement of Fundamental Rights provided under the Indian Constitution. The victim in this case was merely given a small compensation of 30,000 rupees in return of his 14 yrs. of illegal imprisonment. The question arises here is that – whether the compensation provided by the court in exchange of his 14 years of life was adequate? Was Justice made? Even when state is not able to protect its people from violation of their fundamental rights at the first place, they also fail to revive their position back in the society.

It could be understood from the case of Delhi Domestic Working Women’s Forum v. Union of India 1995 SCC (1) 14, that the victims of crimes such as rape, has to go through a lot of problems right from the start. The department of police does not handle the rape cases as they should, instead they handle in it in a way which is insensitive and rough as done in this particular case.

To provide meaningful justice to victims, both legal and social, following steps should be ensured:

• Treatment by the police, welfare organization, hospitals, prosecution and courts towards victim needs to be more fair, sympathetic and considerate;
• Victims needs to be provided with proper compensation/restitution for the suffered injury or loss using the existing provisions;
• Adequate security needs to be provided to victims and potential victims against victimization.

Victims needs to be ensured with assisting services to redress the impact of the crime. The service thus provided needs to be sensitized according to the victim. Police department can play a major role in improving their support towards victims. If these steps are ensured towards the victim, the present system of criminal justice can improve substantially. There is a need to recognize the present position of victims of crime in the criminal justice system to solve and address their problems and serve them justice more adequately. Victims of crime face a lot of issues and problems after the act and their impact can be complex and varied. Therefore, their issues should be addressed empathetically and sincerely by the agencies of criminal justice system according to their needs. To do so, there is a need to be the shift of orientation of the criminal justice system towards the victim for fair treatment.