Restorative Justice: A Contrivance of Compensatory Jurisprudence for the Victims of Rape in India

Abstract

Victims in rape cases are invariably the forgotten part in India’s criminal adversarial system. While the accused, more often than not, is protected with all the resources available at the expenditure of the State, the victim is left to fend for herself with little or no support from the State machinery. She is merely transformed to a witness to watch the entire play being organized by the accused and the State as the protagonists. The violations of victim’s rights, the invasion of her dignity, the actual losses incurred to her do not constitute matter of concern of any one. India, at present, is faced with the situations where respect for criminal law has reduced to minimum; one of the crucial reasons being the hapless condition of the victims. Perhaps, the most dismal condition is witnessed in the rape case. The present article seeks to highlight the plight of victims in Indian Criminal Justice System with special reference to victims of rape and also highlights the attempts of the judiciary to fill all the gaps through restorative justice to repair the harm caused by criminals.