Visakhapatnam collector booked for delay in release of solatium to rape victim

VISAKHAPATNAM: The City Police have registered a complaint against collector Pravin Kumar and Deputy Director of  Social Welfare Office, MVP Colony for allegedly being negligent in sanctioning compensation to a rape victim in Visakhapatnam. According to A Ramachandra Rao, ACP (Dwaraka Zone), a woman from Mangapuram Colony lodged a complaint at MVP Colony police station on August 12, 2016, alleging that she was raped and cheated by one Akula Siva Narayana Murthy. The police registered cases under Section 417,420,376,34 of IPC and Section 3(1) (S), 3(2)(V) of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocity Act.  

As per the Rule 12(4) of the SC/ ST Act, the woman was eligible for a compensation from the Social Welfare Department. However, the woman alleged that she had not received the promised amount, despite submitting all the mandatory particulars to the authorities.Her repeated requests to the authorities concerned fell on the deaf ears, she alleged, adding that the authorities had manipulated with the sections in the case and she received less amount than the promised.  

Then, the woman approached the Special Court for SC/ST Cases in Vizag which in turn directed the MVP Police to register a case and begin a probe into the issue. On January 3, MVP Colony Inspector M Maheswara Rao registered the FIR, naming DV Ramana Murthy, deputy director of Vizag social welfare office and collector Pravin Kumar as accused. Cases under Section 4 of the SC/ST Act and Section 156 (3) of CrPC were registered. According to police sources, the investigation is on.

Expressing that they have a strong faith on the judiciary, the district administration on behalf of collector Pravin Kumar claimed that they issued a compensation of `24,000 on September 23, 2016 and after seeking several legal opinions, they had sanctioned another `3.5 lakh on December 10, 2016 to the victim. 
The administration, in a release here on Saturday, claimed that the compensation was credited to the bank account of the victim without any delay. 

“A compensation of `3.5 lakh was credited to her account on January 1, 2017,” the release claimed. The administration has dismissed the allegations of the woman, saying that said adequate steps were taken to ensure the release of the compensation in time.