The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday directed the State to pay a compensation of ₹3 lakh under the victim compensation scheme to the wife of the deceased watchman who was murdered by masked men during an attempt to rob an ATM centre at Thanichayam near Vadipatti, here in 2013.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh directed the State to pay the compensation to S. Rajammal, the wife of M. Selvam. He was murdered by masked men who attempted to rob the ATM centre. The men were unable to break open the cash chest. The trial in the murder case is pending before the district court.
The petitioner Rajammal said that following the death of her husband, she was struggling financially and was unable to make ends meet. She had to take care of her children, she said. The security agency that had engaged her husband paid her a compensation amount of ₹1.25 lakh and asked her not to file a complaint or seek legal remedy, she said.
The court directed that the compensation amount of ₹3 lakh be paid to the woman within a period of four weeks. Taking note of the fact that the trial in the murder case was pending before the I Additional Sessions Judge, the court directed that a direction for an additional compensation shall also be considered at the time of delivering the judgement.
