CONCEPT OF VICTIMOLOGY IN INDIA

Victimology is science of study of the relationship between victims andviolators of

law or offenders. Government has recently reinforced thispolitical commitment in
the form of funds for the National Association of Victim Support Schemes (NAVSS).
In 1964, when the United Kingdom becameone of the 1
st
countries to establish a policy commitment to victims of crimein the form of criminal
injuries compensation Board.The reports of 1
st
and 2
nd
British Crime Surveys have begun to shed somelight on the nature of the
relationship between victims and offenders. Inparticular, attention has been paid to
the attitude that victims have towardsthe treatment of offenders.
A Law Inadequate in favour of victims
The victim is the forgotten man of our criminal justice system. He sets thecriminal
law in to motion but then goes into oblivion. The present code of criminal procedure
does not recognize the right of victim to take part in theprosecution of the case
instituted on the basis of police report. The victim ismerely a witness in a State
versus case. He has no rights to prefer appealagainst the order of acquittal of the
accused by trial court in a criminalcase started by State. The State reserves the
discretion not to prefer andalso to withdraw from the prosecution even in heinous
offences. The victimof crime becomes the victim of our criminal justice system when
the politicalmotivated investigation agency or prosecuting agency shows lack of
interestor apathy in the matter of investigation or prosecution on
extraneousconsideration.
Innovative approach of apex court.
The Supreme Court has forged new tools, devised new methods and adoptednew
strategies for the purpose of making fundamental rights meaningfuleven to the
victims of crime of crime in AIR 1995 SC 14, the SupremeCourt directed the State of
Uttar Pradesh to suspend and start disciplinaryaction against two police officers and
one medical officer for makingperfunctory investigation of rape case to pay the
amount of Rs.2,50,000/- ascompensation.

There is plethora of decisions, where Supreme Court awarded compensationto the

victims, whose plight was brought to the notice of the apex courteither by
themselves or by way of public interest litigation. Millions of victims of crime, who
cannot approach the apex court out of ignorance of lack of resources are still crying
for justice with the aim of protecting thehuman rights of victim in our criminal
justice system and to fulfill theconstitutional obligation. The Supreme court should
ask the Government toconfer jurisdiction on the criminal courts by making statutory
provision forthe compensation of the victims of crime, irrespective of whether the
accusedis convicted or not and to make statutory provision for participation of
thevictim in prosecution, along with prosecuting agency in a criminal caseinstituted
on report of police.
Compensation & the need for sensitization of judiciary
Legislation conferred jurisdiction on the criminal courts under section 357(3)of the
code of criminal procedure for awarding unlimited amount of compensation to the
victims at the time of passing judgment of conviction.This provision is not ancillary
to other provisions of criminal procedure code,but in addition thereto. By the
landmark judgment in Hari
Kisans
case AIR1988 SC 2127 Supreme Court not only awarded compensation of
Rs.50,000/- tothe victim, but also directed the subordinate criminal courts to
exercise thepower of awarding compensation to the victims of offences in such a
liberalway that the victims may not have to rush to the civil courts forcompensation
to the victims. Unfortunately, the subordinate judiciary israrely invoking this
provision to award compensation to the victims, wherethe accused persons are
acquitted of the charge on benefit of doubt or onany technicalities of laws.The
General Assembly of the United
Nations
has recommended payment of compensation to the victims of crime by the State,
when compensation is notfully available from the offender or other sources.
Unfortunately, the victimsof communal riots, dacoity, arson and rape are not getting
compensation inour present justice system. Since the State is under duty to protect
the life,liberty and security of its citizens, it is bound to pay compensation to
thevictims of crime irrespective of whether the accused is convicted or acquittedof
the criminal charge. As the government is indifferent to the crying need of the
victims, the apex court directed the Government to set up a criminalinjuries
compensation Board, under the supervision of criminal courts for

awarding compensation to victims of all crimes including rape or dacoity, inaddition

to the directions given to National Commission for women to evolvea proposal for
rehabilitation and compensatory justice to rape victims.Payment of compensation to
the victims of crime for any injury caused tohim has not been institutionalized under
the Indian Penal Laws. Nor anylegal right to be compensated has been created in
favour of the victim. Incase of irreversible injury monetary compensation is the sole
effectiveremedy. In India there is neither a comprehensive legislation nor a
statutoryscheme providing for compensation by State to offender to victims of
crime.The legislative vacuum of a legal right to monetary compensation forviolation
of human rights has been supplemented by the higher judiciary bydeveloping a
parallel constitutional remedy. In AIR 1983 SC 1086 theSupreme Court for the first
time in Rudal Sah Vs. State of Bihar made itcategorically clear that the higher
judiciary has the power to awardcompensation for violation of fundamental rights
through the exercise of writ jurisdiction and evolved the principle of compensatory
justice in the annalsof human rights jurisprudence. In Oraon Vs. State of Bihar the
SupremeCourt direct State of Bihar to pay the sum of Rs.15,000/- as
compensationto Bhama Oraon who was illegally detained for 6 years and kept in
mentalhospital when he was not in same. In Sebastain Vs. Union of India AIR1984
SC 1826, on account of failure of Government to produce in habeascorpus petition
filed by wives, apex court awarded cost of Rs. 1 lac to begiven to wife of each of
detenne.
Compensation to Rape victims :
Right of the rape victim to receivecompensation flows from Art.21 of the
constitution. Every court has jurisdiction to grant compensation not only at the final
stage of trial butalso to award interim compensation at any interlocutory stage of
trial inview of reported judgment in AIR 1996 SC 922. In 1995(1) SCC 14 SupremeCourt in case of Delhi Domestic Working
Womens
Forum Vs. Union of India, indicated a scheme to award compensation to rape victim
both at thetime of trial i.e., interim compensation to rape victim and at the end of
the trial. The Supreme Court suggested the establishment of criminalinjuries
compensation Board under Art. 38(1) of the Constitution of India.The rape victim
shall be paid compensation by this Criminal injuriescompensation board or the court
and while awarding compensation thefollowing particulars are to be taken into
account to calculate the

with legal and social referral services, to honor his right to be consulted and to
offerhis opinions when the prosecutor plea bargains with the accused, and to
totallyrevamp the compensation-restitution idea. Some police departments report
tovictims the progress being made in investigating and solving their cases,
andcommunities may provide such services as rape crisis centers and spouse
abuseshelters to assist crime victims by intervening in the crisis and referring the
victimsto community and others resources in the case of
rape, the womens movement has
spurred victimologists-mostly males-to give more equitable and balanced attention
to the issues surrounding what some have called the most despicable but
leastpunished crime.

Attention to the victim calls for an examination of the appropriate remedies

forvictimization. Too often the remedies offered to poor victims reflect middle-class
values. The victims point of view should be sought when systems are developed
for
compensating crime victims, and the concept of relative loss should be introduced
indebate and deliberations for compensation.
GRIEVANCES AND PROBLEMS OF VICTIMS
The grievances of the victims can be summarized as follows- 1.

Inadequacy of the law in allowing the victim to participate in the prosecutionin a

criminal case instituted on a police report 2.

Failure on the part of the police and prosecution to keep the victims informedabout
progress of the case 3.

Inconvenience during interrogation by the police and lengthy courtproceeding. 4.

Lack of prompt medical assistance to the victims of body offences and victimsof
accident. 5.

Lack of legal assistance to the victim. 6.

Lack of protection when the victims are threatened by the offender. 7.

Failure in restitution of victim. Along with these grievances, the victims of crimes
faced multifariousproblems:I Economic strain of the family II Change in Social role of
dependents.

III Frustration and helplessness leading to suicide. IV Social stigma. V Emergence of

criminal behavior. An important aspect of investigating a violent crime is an
understanding of thevictim and the relation that their lifestyle or personality
characteristics may havecontributed to the offender choosing them as a victim.
Please do not misunderstandthe previous statement. In no way are victims being
blamed for becoming a victimof a violent crime. Even high risk victims (to be
described shortly) have the right tolive how they wish without becoming a victim of
the type of offenses described onthis site. Yet the fact remains, that to understand
the offender, one must firstunderstand the victim. Victims are classified during an
investigation in three general categories thatdescribe the level of risk their lifestyle
represents in relation to the violent crimethat has been committed. The importance
of understanding this in an investigationis directly related back to the level of risk to
the offender during the commission of the crime. This information is important to
the investigation to better understandthe sophistication or possible pathology of the
offender.High Risk Victims - Victims in this group have a lifestyle that makes them a
higherrisk for being a victim of a violent crime. The most obvious high risk victim is
theprostitute. Prostitutes place themselves at risk every single time they go to
work.Prostitutes are high risk because they will get into a stranger's car, go to
secludedareas with strangers, and for the most part attempt to conceal their actions
for legalreasons. Offenders often rely on all these factors and specifically target
prostitutesbecause it lowers their chances of becoming a suspect in the crime.
Therefore, inthis example, the prostitute is a high risk victim creating a lower risk to
theoffender.Moderate Risk Victims - Victims that fall into this category are lower risk
victims,but for some reason were in a situation that placed them in a greater level
of risk.

A person that is stranded on a dark, secluded highway due to a flat tire that
acceptsa ride from a stranger and is then victimized would be a good example of
this type of victim level risk.Low Risk Victims - The lifestyle of these individuals
would normally not place themin any degree of risk for becoming a victim of a
violent crime. These individualsstay out of trouble, do not have peers that are
criminal, are aware of theirsurroundings and attempt to take precautions to not
become a victim. They lockthe doors, do not use drugs, and do not go into areas
that are dark and secluded.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The victim is essentially an inseparable part of crime. Therefore the phenomenon of
crime cannot be comprehensively explained without incorporating the victim of
acrime. Crime victim, despite being an integral part of crime and a key factor
incriminal justice system, remained a forgotten entity as his status got reduced
onlyto report crime and appear in the court as witness

and he routinely facespostponements, delays, rescheduling, and other frustrations.

All their means loss of earnings, waste of time, payment of transportation and other
expenses,discouragement, and the painful realization that the system does not live
up to itsideals and does not serve its constituency, but instead serves only itself.
Manybelieve that the victim is the most disregarded participant in criminal
justiceproceedings. It is, therefore, the Indian Higher Courts have started to award
the compensationthrough their writ jurisdiction in appropriate cases. Advocate
Deepak badeB.A. LLB. LL.M.