Odisha: Murdered man's wife gets Rs 5 lakh compensation

KORAPUT: Following a directive from Orissa High Court, the district legal service authority (DLSA) of Koraput recently provided compensation of Rs 5 lakh from Odisha Victim Compensation Scheme (OVCS) to a widow who had lost her husband in April 2019.
According to Subrat Patra, a Jeypore based activist, husband of Sukulidei Saanta of Pandrimati village under Kundura police station in the district was murdered in April 2019 and a case was registered at the Kundura police station.
“After losing the sole earning member of the family, Sukulidei was in dire straits and we had approached the DLSA for financial compensation under the OVCS. However, citing lack of adequate documents and information, the DLSA had rejected the request,” said Patra.
However, with help of a legal service institute identified as CLAP, Sukulidei filed a writ petition at the Orissa High Court and after hearing the matter, the court ordered the DLSA to release immediate compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the victim.
“Though the OVCS is being implemented in the state, in a majority of cases the victims are deprived of availing its benefits. Efforts should be made to ensure that the victims get on time compensation,” said Bikash Das, president, CLAP.