The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has found a delay in payment of compensation to child victims of sexual offences.
A commission report submitted to the government on compensation to survivors of children in cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO) said survivors of children had to repeatedly approach the concerned authorities to get relief after filing claims for compensation.
Those who are eligible for compensation should be decided by the district level committee. There should be action at government level to find the means to pay compensation, the commission recommended in its report, prepared after a national meeting of stakeholders at the end of last year.
The commission also found that the current situation is that survivors have received interim relief but not final relief. Sometimes even temporary aid was not approved. District and state monitoring committees should meet regularly to ensure that compensation is not delayed, the commission recommended.
Compensation for POCSO survivors should be provided by merging them into a single scheme.
The commission found that only a small percentage of the fine imposed on the accused in POCSO cases was available to pay compensation to the survivors. Steps should be taken to ensure that 50% of the fine goes to the victim compensation scheme. Channeling funds from children’s NGOs or from abroad through the government to a victim compensation fund should be explored.
If a child who has been placed in a children’s home in violation of the law is sexually assaulted, he or she will be entitled to victim compensation.
Instead of depositing the compensation received by the survivors for medical and rehabilitation needs as a fixed bond, funds should be sanctioned for their immediate needs like education, the commission recommended.
Once the FIRs are registered, a copy should be sent to the concerned District Legal Service Office (DLSA). However, there was a delay in this. The statistics also showed that the number of survivors who received compensation was very small compared to the number of registered cases. It should also be investigated whether claims for compensation have been rejected.
In cases where the accused were related, the survivors and the accused were married, some cases were settled. As a result, no one was willing to apply for compensation, which led to a decrease in the number of applicants.
It was pointed out that parents or guardians were sometimes not prepared to accept survivors living in childcare facilities such as foster homes or model homes. The commission observed that it should be investigated whether the Nirbhaya fund was used to rehabilitate these children.
Published – 25 March 2026 21:29 IST
