Schemes to rehabilitate rape victims on card
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, June 08 2011: Financial assistance, from ' 50,000 to ' 5 lakh, will be provided to women who are victims of rape under the "Assistance to Rape Victim" scheme which would be launched soon by the state Social Welfare Department.

Another scheme called "Women Mission" which would provide assistance to women who live separately after she was raped and to the women living with HIV/AIDS will also be launched in the near future.

Director of Social Welfare Department, Sheityabati said that monetary assistance for treatment of women who have suffered from mental problems after being raped will also be provided monetary assistance under the scheme.

Elaborating on the scheme, the director said that financial assistance to a rape victim is to be given as part of the rehabilitation of women who have suffered from such heinous crimes.

The amount to be given to them will depend on the condition of the woman after she returns to a sense of normalcy following the ill-fated incident and depending on the educational qualification of the woman.

The assistance is to be given to a victim so that she could stand on her own and as far as possible, lead a normal life in society, she said.

The assistance is to be given after assessing the seriousness of the crime, the condition of the woman after the incident, the nature of the case taken up by the police, etc.

The scheme will also cover the next of kin of the women who were killed after rape.

However, it will not cover a victim who had remarried since her traumatic experience, the director went on to say. For launching the scheme, SPs of each nine districts of the state have been asked to furnish lists of women who are victims of rape.

After receiving the list and assessment is done, the department would fix a date for launching the scheme, the director added.

According to the director, state level and district level committees for the implementation of the scheme had already been constituted.

Commissioner (Social Welfare) is the chairman of the state level committee and the director is the member secretary of the committee.

For the district level committees, DCs of respective district are the chairman and district social welfare officers are the member secretaries.

District SPs and district medical officers are the members of the district level committee.

For launching the "Women Mission", a committee chaired by Chief Minister has been constituted.

Apart from providing assistance to rape victims divorced by their spouses and women living with HIV, a provision to pay a monthly pension of ' 200 per month to widows between 18 to 40 years is also included in the scheme.

The scheme is targeting to avail benefits to more than 30000 women in this current year.

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