SC orders 2 Ghaziabad hospitals to pay Rs 12 lakh to family of 4-year-old rape victim

The Supreme Court on Friday directed two Ghaziabad hospitals to pay Rs 10 lakh and Rs 2 lakh to the family of a four-year-old rape victim who died after allegedly being denied medical care. The court will frame guidelines for handling grave offence victims

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday asked two Ghaziabad-based hospitals to pay Rs 10 lakh and Rs two lakh respectively to the family of a four-year-old rape victim who died of injuries after being denied medical care by them.

The top court also said that it will lay broad guidelines for hospitals and the law enforcement agencies to deal with victims of grave offences. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was hearing a plea related to the death of the minor girl.

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The bench took note of the report of the apex court-appointed SIT which said that the girl, who was bleeding, was alive for almost five hours and the hospitals concerned denied her the medical care leading to her death.

The bench asked Ghaziabad-based super speciality St Joseph (Mariam) Hospital and Khajan Singh Mannvi Health Care to pay Rs 10 lakh and Rs two lakh to the father of the girl within four weeks.

On March 16, the girl was allegedly lured by a neighbour. When the child did not return, her father launched a search and found her lying unconscious and soaked in blood. The family took her to the two private hospitals, which allegedly denied treatment. She was taken to a government hospital in Ghaziabad, where doctors declared her dead.

The top court had, in April, flagged the “reluctance” of the Ghaziabad Police in lodging an FIR and conducting a probe in the case. The bench was hearing a plea filed by the victim’s father, a daily wager, seeking a court-monitored probe either by a special investigation team (SIT) or the CBI in the case.

Hearing the matter on April 10, the apex court lambasted the Ghaziabad Police’s “insensitive approach” in the investigation of the case. The bench had issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh government, the station house officer (SHO) of the police station concerned, the two hospitals and the executive magistrate.