SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said the compensation initiative for rape victims and others were not a substitute for punishment to perpetrators.
“…it’s no one’s case that this is a substitute for the culprit being punished. The law will follow its own course as was the case earlier,” he wrote on micro-blogging site Twitter.
The state cabinet recently revised its compensations scheme and fixed an amount for victims of violence including cases of death, disability, rape and human trafficking.
Separatists and pro-India politicians alike assailed the government saying it had put a “price tag” on human life and also on chastity of a hapless woman.
“It never ceases to amaze me how a perfectly good initiative taken by a Government can be twisted and misrepresented to suit an editorial line,” Omar said, referring to editorials criticising the move.
Omar said the state government had only made a provision that victims get compensation.
“Anyone who believes that violence doesn’t exist is living in fool’s paradise. So what’s wrong with ensuring compensation to the victims?” he asked.
Recommended: ‘Kashmir Govt Puts Price Tag on Women’s Chastity‘
