An approach to support services for victims of crime in India with an emphasis on situation like Covid-19

Abstract

Victims of crime are the ones who suffer as a consequence to the crime committed against them. Such sufferings may be in the form of losses that may be financial, physical and emotional. In the current era of research in the field of Victimology, sufferings of victims of crime have been studied and there is a development as to how to provide assistance to the victims of crime.  Many countries across the world have established for the victims of crime support services program within their criminal justice delivery system. Since the criminal law amendment in 2008, Indian States and Union Territories have gradually come up with Victim Compensation Schemes. In 2015, the Central Victim Compensation Fund Guidelines was framed to do away with the anomalies in compensation amount for different offences in the Victim Compensation Services. Apart from compensation, providing support services to victims of crime is necessity in order to help them cope up with the victimization. With the Covid-19 pandemic, providing support services to the victims of crime is a matter that needs to be effectively dealt with.