VICTIMOLOGY

MEANING, NATURE, SCOPE

AND EMERGING TRENDS

SUBMITTED TO PROFESSOR DR.ANJU BERWAL

UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF LEGAL STUDIES
PANJAB UNIVERSITY
CHANDIGARH

SUBMITTED BY
AMANPREET SINGH
152/10
10TH SEMESTER

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This project would be incomplete without expressing my gratitude towards the people who
made it possible for me to finish it on time and with accuracy. Firstly, I would like to thank
our Criminology, Penology and Victimology Professor Dr.Anju Berwal for giving me the
requisite guidelines and helping me in fulfilling the loopholes of my project. Secondly, I
would like to thank my family members friends who constantly gave me advice on the
quality of information and helped me in completing my project.
Lastly I would like to thank our library staff for helping me in collecting the material and the
required books for the project.

Amanpreet Singh

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENT.............................................................................................. 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................. 3
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS........................................................................................ 4
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................... 5
DEFINITION OF VICTIMOLOGY................................................................................ 6
CONCEPT OF VICTIMOLOGY................................................................................... 7
CONCEPT OF VICTIMOLOGY IN INDIA.....................................................................9
A Law Inadequate in favour of victims................................................................9
Innovative approach of Apex court.....................................................................9
Compensation & the need for sensitization of judiciary...................................10
Compensation to Rape victims.........................................................................11
The duty of Court while trying rape cases........................................................12
VICTIM SERVICES................................................................................................. 14
GRIEVANCES AND PROBLEMS OF VICTIMS...........................................................15
VICTIM AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.......................................................16
VICTIM AS VICTIM OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.........................................17
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................... 18

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AIR

All India Reporter

All

Allahabad

Bom LR

Bombay Law Reporter

Cal

Calcutta

DE

Delhi

Guj

Gujarat

Ker

Kerala

Ltd

Limited

MANU

Manupatra

Mh LJ

Maharashtra Law Journal

Ori

Orissa

P&H

Punjab and Haryana

SC

Supreme Court

SCC

Supreme Court Cases

SCR

Supreme Court Reporter

TN

Tamil Nadu

VICTIMOLOGY AND ITS DIMENSIONS

INTRODUCTION
From late 1989 to late 1993, in the Australian state of New South Wales, a dozen or so young
tourists had gone missing along one of the countrys major highways. Many of the bodies
were later found in the Belanglo State Forest, in varying stages of decay. Some traveled in
pairs, others alone. They were both males and females, aged between 19 and 22. They come
from different backgrounds, different countries, and were traveling to different destinations.
Despite these differences, all of the victims shared a common characteristic that linked them:
they were hikers and backpackers. These similarities had the possibility of providing
investigators with a clue about the likely perpetrator of the crimes, and provide the profiler
with vital information not only about the perpetrator, but about the victims themselves.
Collectively, this information is referred to as "Victimology," or the study of victims: an
examination of every facet of their lifestyle, background, health, and physical characteristics.
It is hoped that through an in-depth examination of the victims, we may know the perpetrator
a little better.
Victimology is important in the overall investigative process because it not only tells us who
the victims were, their health and personal history, social habits and personality, but also
provides ideas as to why they were chosen as victims. In many situations, the offender will
hold back from choosing a victim until one that meets his needs comes along, possibly
allowing him to fulfill some fantasy or desire he has. Because of this, the way the victim is
chosen is important and gives an insight into how the offender thinks, which subsequently
affects how the perpetrator acts. If we are able to determine how the offender is acting now,
we may be better able to determine his future behavior, possibly leading to a successful
arrest.

DEFINITION OF VICTIMOLOGY
The word VICTIMOLOGY was coined in 1947 by a French lawyer, Benjamin Mendelsohn
from a Latin word VICTIMA and a Greek word LOGOS. Victimology is basically a study
of crime from the point of view of the victim, of the persons suffering from injury or
destruction by action of another person or a group of persons.
Schultz (1970) saysVictimology is the study of the degree of and type of participation of the victim in the gensis
or development of the offences and an evaluation of what is just and proper for the victims
welfare.
Drapkin and Viano (1974)Victimology is the branch of criminology which primarily studies the victims of crime and
everything that is connected with such are victim. (as quoted by Krishna and Singh, 1982).
In a Broder prespective Antilla (1975)Victimology studies by logical, Sociological, Psychological and criminological aspects
about the victims and brings into focus the victim-offender relationship and the role played
by the victim in occurence of the offence.
In extended sense Separovic(1975)Victimology is the entire body of knowledge regarding victims, victimization and to
preserve the rights of victim; thus it is composed of knowledge drawn from such fields
Asiminology, Safety, Law, Medicine, Psychology, Social Work, Education and Public
Administration.7
According to Parsonage (1979)Victimology concerns the interaction in which both the criminal and the victim have
functional role and responsibilities.

Shinder (1982)It investigates the relationship between offender and victim in crime causation. It deals with
the process of victimization, of becoming a victim, and in this context directs much of its
attention to the problem victim-offender, sequence, i.e. the question of whether or not
victimization can have crimogenic effects or can encourage crime..

CONCEPT OF VICTIMOLOGY
Victimology is the scientific study of victims of crime, a sub discipline of criminology. It
seeks to study the relationship between victim and offenders, the persons especially
vulnerable to crimes and the victims. Placement in the criminal justice system (CJS)
Benjamin Mendelsohn has done pioneering work in this field. B. Mendelsohn is credited with
being the first study to the relationship between victim and doer (offender) and taken
together, he termed to else PENAL COUPLE.
Mendelsohn studied victims on the basis of their contributions to crimes and classified them
into the following categories.
Completely innocent victims, e.g. Child, Persons in sleep
1. Victims with minor guilt and victims of ignorance such as pregnant women who go to
quacks for procuring abortions
2. Voluntary victims, such as the ones who commit suicide or are killed by euthanasia.
3. Victims who are more guilty then offenders such as persons who provoke others to
commit crimes. EG: the criminal type of victims who commits offences against others
and get killed or hurt by others in self-defense.
Until recently, victims were not studied. They tended to be seen as passive recipients of the
criminals greed or anger, in the wrong place at the wrong time. The study of victims,
known as victimology, has resulted in theoretical and research studies, and an awareness of
the victim has grown in the public consciousness. There is now recognition that victims have
traditionally not been treated particularly well by the criminal justice system. Victims suffer

not only during the crime, but that there are also sometimes physical and psychological
complications.
Perhaps the first theory to explain victimization was developed by Wolfgang in his study of
murders in Philadelphia. Victim precipitation theory argues that there are victims who
actually initiated the confrontation that led to their injuries and deaths. Although this was the
result of the study of only one type of crime, the idea was first raised that victims also might
play a role in the criminal activity.
Subsequently, some general facts have been gathered about victimization.
1. Victimization is more likely at night (6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.). Personal larceny is
more common during the day, with more serious crime occurring at night.
2. Crime occurs more in open public areas, although rapes and simple assaults tend to
occur in homes.
3. Crime is most frequent in central city areas.
4. Western urban areas have the highest crime rates, while the Northeast rural areas have
the lowest.
5. The National Crime Survey indicates that 25% of U.S. households have at least one
individual who was victimized in some way during the past year.
6. Personal theft is very common. About 99% of Americans will be the victim of
personal theft at some time in their lives, and 87% will be a theft victim three or more
times.
7. Men are twice as likely as women to be victims of robbery and assault. The violent
victimization rate for females has been fairly stable, but there has been a 20% increase
for males in the last 15 years.
8. Victim risk diminishes rapidly after age 25. Contrary to popular belief, grandparents
are safer than their grandchildren.
9. Unmarried/never married people are more likely to be victims than the married or
widowed.
10. The poor are more likely to be victims of crime. They are far more likely to be
victims of violent crime, while the middle class are more likely to be victims of
property crime.
11. African Americans are victimized at the highest rates. Crime tends to be intra-racial
(criminals and victims of the same race) rather than interracial (criminal and victim of
different races). About 75% of crime is intra-racial.
12. Strangers commit about 60% of violent crimes. However, females are more likely to
know their assailants.

13. In some studies, over half of offenders report being under the influence of alcohol
and/or other drugs when they committed the offense resulting in incarceration.
14. The characteristics of those most likely to be victimized might be summarized as:
young, black, urban, poor and male.

CONCEPT OF VICTIMOLOGY IN INDIA

Victimology is science of study of the relationship between victims and violators of
law or offenders. Government has recently reinforced this political commitment in the
form of funds for the National Association of Victim Support Schemes (NAVSS). In
1964, when the United Kingdom became one of the 1st countries to establish a policy
commitment to victims of crime in the form of criminal injuries compensation Board.
The reports of 1st and 2nd British Crime Surveys have begun to shed some light on
the nature of the relationship between victims and offenders. In particular, attention
has been paid to the attitude that victims have towards the treatment of offenders.1

A Law Inadequate in favour of victims

The victim is the forgotten man of our criminal justice system. He sets the criminal law in
to motion but then goes into oblivion. The present code of criminal procedure does
not recognize the right of victim to take part in the prosecution of the case instituted
on the basis of police report. The victim is merely a witness in a State versus case.
He has no rights to prefer appeal against the order of acquittal of the accused by
trial court in a criminal case started by State. The State reserves the discretion not
to prefer and also to withdraw from the prosecution even in heinous offences. The
victim of crime becomes the victim of our criminal justice system when the political
motivated investigation agency or prosecuting agency shows lack of interest

or

apathy in the matter of investigation or prosecution on extraneous consideration.

Innovative approach of Apex court

The Supreme Court has forged new tools, devised new methods and adopted new
strategies for the purpose of making fundamental rights meaningful even to the
victims of crime of crime in AIR 1995 SC 14, the Supreme Court directed the State
of Uttar Pradesh to suspend and start disciplinary action against two police officers

1 https://www.academia.edu

and one medical officer for making perfunctory investigation of rape case to pay the
amount of Rs.2,50,000/- as compensation.
There is plethora of decisions, where Supreme Court awarded compensation to the
victims, whose plight was brought to the notice of the apex court either by
themselves or by way of public interest litigation. Millions of victims of crime, who
cannot approach the apex court out of ignorance of lack of resources are still crying
for justice with the aim of protecting the human rights of victim in our criminal
justice system and to fulfill the constitutional obligation. The Supreme court should
ask the Government to confer jurisdiction on the criminal courts by making statutory
provision for the compensation of the victims of crime, irrespective of whether the
accused is convicted or not and to make statutory provision for participation of the
victim in prosecution, along with prosecuting agency in a criminal case instituted on
report of police.

Compensation & the need for sensitization of judiciary

Legislation conferred jurisdiction on the criminal courts under section 357(3) of the
code of criminal procedure for awarding unlimited amount of compensation to the
victims at the time of passing judgment of conviction. This provision is not ancillary
to other provisions of criminal procedure code, but in addition thereto. By the
landmark judgment in Hari Kisans case AIR 1988 SC 2127 Supreme Court not only
awarded compensation of Rs.50,000/- to the victim, but also directed the subordinate
criminal courts to exercise the power of awarding compensation to the victims of
offences in such a liberal way that the victims may not have to rush to the civil
courts for compensation to the victims. Unfortunately, the subordinate judiciary is
rarely invoking this provision to award compensation to the victims, where the
accused persons are acquitted of the charge on benefit of doubt or on any
technicalities of laws.
The General Assembly of the United Nations has recommended payment of
compensation to the victims of crime by the State, when compensation is not fully
available from the offender or other sources. Unfortunately, the victims of communal
riots, dacoity, arson and rape are not getting compensation in our present justice
system. Since the State is under duty to protect the life, liberty and security of its

citizens, it is bound to pay compensation to the victims of crime irrespective of

whether the accused is convicted or acquitted of the criminal charge. As the
government is indifferent to the crying need of the victims, the apex court directed
the Government to set up a criminal injuries compensation Board, under the
supervision of criminal courts for awarding compensation to victims of all crimes
including rape or dacoity, in addition to the directions given to National Commission
for women to evolve a proposal for rehabilitation and compensatory justice to rape
victims.
Payment of compensation to the victims of crime for any injury caused to him has
not been institutionalized under the Indian Penal Laws. Nor any legal right to be
compensated has been created in favour of the victim. In case of irreversible injury
monetary compensation is the sole effective remedy. In India

there is neither a

comprehensive legislation nor a statutory scheme providing for compensation by State

to offender to victims of crime.
The legislative vacuum of a legal right to monetary compensation for violation of
human rights has been supplemented by the higher judiciary by developing a parallel
constitutional remedy. The Supreme Court for the first time in made it categorically
clear that the higher judiciary has the power to award compensation for violation of
fundamental rights through the exercise of writ jurisdiction and evolved the principle
of compensatory justice in the annals of human rights jurisprudence.2 The Supreme
Court direct State of Bihar to pay the sum of Rs.15,000/- as compensation to Bhama
Oraon who was illegally detained for 6 years and kept in mental hospital when he
was not in same.3 On account of failure of Government to produce in habeas corpus
petition filed by wives, apex court awarded cost of Rs. 1 lac to be given to wife of
each of detenue.4

2 Rudal Sah v. State of Bihar, AIR 1983 SC 1086.

3 Oraon v. State of Bihar.
4 Sebastain v. Union of India AIR 1984 SC 1826

Compensation to Rape victims

Right of the rape victim to receive compensation flows from Art.21 of the
constitution. Every court has jurisdiction to grant compensation not only at the final
stage of trial but also to award interim compensation at any interlocutory stage of
trial .5 The Apex Court indicated a scheme to award compensation to rape victim both
at the time of trial i.e., interim compensation to rape victim and at the end of the
trial.

The

Supreme

Court

suggested

the

establishment

of

criminal

injuries

compensation Board under Art. 38(1) of the Constitution of India. The rape victim shall
be paid compensation by this Criminal injuries compensation board or the court and
while awarding compensation the following particulars are to be taken into account
to calculate the compensation amount i.e., pain, suffering and shocks experienced by
the victims and also loss of earnings due to pregnancy and the expenses of child
birth if this occurs as a result of the rape.. Unfortunately till now this criminal
injuries compensation Board has not been established by the Central Government.6
In D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal, the landmark judgment Supreme Court has laid
down number of guidelines to prevent custodial violence including rape, and has
recognized that custodial rape could be compensated as the same violated Rights to
life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Honble
Apex Court has held that the court of session have every authority to award interim
compensation if prime facie case against the accused has been established that a
person had sexual relationship with the prosecutrix on false assurance of marriage.
Supreme Court has directed the guilty

person to pay Rs.1000/- pm as interim

compensation to the prosecutrix during pendency of case.7 This judgment is a

precedent for granting interim compensation to the rape victims. The Supreme court
held that even a prostitute has a right to privacy and no person can rape her just
because she is a woman of easy virtue.8
5 AIR 1996 SC 922.
6 Delhi Domestic Working Womens Forum v. Union of India, 1995(1) SCC 14 .
7 Bodhi Sattra Goutham v. Subhra Chakraborthy.
8 State of Maharashtra v. Madhukar N. Mardikar (1991 ) 1 SCC 57.

The duty of Court while trying rape cases

The police, court and lawyers should come forward to provide all sorts of assistance
to victims of rape. Courts must deal with such cases with utmost sensitivity. The court
should examine the broader probabilities of case and not get swayed by minor
contradictions or insignificant discrepancies in witness statements. The court should also
provide adequate financial assistance to the victim of rape. It could also award
interim compensation as in Rathinam / State of Gujarat the court awarded interim
compensation to tribal woman who was illegally raped in police custody in the
presence of her husband. Sum of Rs. 50,000/- was provided by the State of Gujarat. Apart
from providing financial assistance

the victim should be provided medical, social,

psychological assistance which would help her to come out of her trauma.
U/s. 18(3) of the protection of Human Rights Act 1993 National Human Rights
Commission has powers to advance the cause of compensatory justice to the victims
of Torture.
There is ample scope of law reform to protect the victims of sexual offences in
general and the victims of rape in particular. Evidence Act is amended suitably. Evidence
of victim is taken in close room. Defense counsel be prohibited from putting question on
past character of victim. Judges and prosecutors may be sanitized to the need of
evaluation of evidence of victims of rape.
Though there is a need of legislation in the field, it is equally essential to
implement the existing provisions. The people should be aware of these laws for
their effective implementation. All concern responsible citizen should take effective
steps to implement the provisions under law.
We have to activate our Indian society of Victimology. The non-governmental organization
on 14th August, 1992 has formed a society called as Indian society of victimology in
Madras many social scientists, professionals, research scholars, students & criminal
justice functionaries interested in cause of victims of crime India, a convened by Prof.
Chockalingam & decided to start working under the society named as Indian
Society of victimology. He was 1st unanimously elected president. On 18/09/94 former
Judge of Supreme Court of India V.R. Krishna Iyer has inaugurated the same.

There is a need to see for the criminal Justice reforms and victims rights
organizations

to become more active. Govt. of Maharashtra women and child

development Dept., various Boards and women commission should become active in
formation of the group to help such victims of crime.
On 14th August 1992, many social Scientists, Professors, Research Scholars, Students &
Criminal Justice functionaries interested in cause of victims of crime met at Dept. of
victimology at University of Madras in India and decided to start an organization in
the name of Indian Society of victimology . He was elected unopposed as President.

VICTIM SERVICES
The development of new programs and legislation has resulted from the study of victims.
Such programs have included:
1. Victim compensation programs, in which the state pays some of the financial costs of
the victim, particularly with respect to violent crime
2. Court services, which provide information and assistance to victims
3. Crisis intervention and counseling programs for victims, particularly in the case of
rape
4. Self-protection programs that teach people how to avoid victimization (target
hardening) and how to mobilize as a community to prevent victimization (such as
neighbourhood watch)
There has also been an ongoing debate about victim's rights, and what those rights ought to
be. Should relatives of victims be allowed to speak and discuss the impact of the crime at
parole hearings or at death penalty hearings? (Many states now provide for this measure).
Should citizens be warned when an ex-felon moves into their neighbourhood? Some people
believe that they should have the right to know and protect themselves. Others believe that
the felon has completed his punishment and should be allowed the opportunity to rehabilitate
himself without potential harassment from others.
This issue has been particularly debated with respect to "Meghan's Law," a law proposed by
the parents of a child murdered by a child molester. The perpetrator had a prior history of
molestation, and lived in Meghan's neighbourhood. The parents maintained that had they
known of his past, they would have taken more precautions. The proposed law, which has

been passed in some states, allows neighbourhood residents to be informed when a sex
offender moves into their neighbourhood. There has been controversy because some former
offenders have been driven from neighbourhoods, and have difficulty finding a place to live-and who have served their sentences. These issues are far from resolution.

GRIEVANCES AND PROBLEMS OF VICTIMS

The grievances of the victims can be summarized as follows1. Inadequacy of the law in allowing the victim to participate in the prosecution in a
criminal case instituted on a police report
2. Failure on the part of the police and prosecution to keep the victims informed about
progress of the case
3. Inconvenience during interrogation by the police and lengthy court proceeding.
4. Lack of prompt medical assistance to the victims of body offences and victims of
accident.
5. Lack of legal assistance to the victim.
6. Lack of protection when the victims are threatened by the offender.
7. Failure in restitution of victim.
Along with these grievances, the victims of crimes faced multifarious problems:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Economic strain of the family

Change in Social role of dependents.
Frustration and helplessness leading to suicide.
Social stigma.
Emergence of criminal behaviour.

An important aspect of investigating a violent crime is an understanding of the victim and the
relation that their lifestyle or personality characteristics may have contributed to the offender
choosing them as a victim. Please do not misunderstand the previous statement. In no way
are victims being blamed for becoming a victim of a violent crime. Even high risk victims

(to be described shortly) have the right to live how they wish without becoming a victim of
the type of offenses described on this site. Yet the fact remains, that to understand the
offender, one must first understand the victim.
Victims are classified during an investigation in three general categories that describe the
level of risk their lifestyle represents in relation to the violent crime that has been committed.
The importance of understanding this in an investigation is directly related back to the level
of risk to the offender during the commission of the crime. This information is important to
the investigation to better understand the sophistication or possible pathology of the offender.
High Risk Victims - Victims in this group have a lifestyle that makes them a higher risk for
being a victim of a violent crime. The most obvious high risk victim is the prostitute.
Prostitutes place themselves at risk every single time they go to work. Prostitutes are high
risk because they will get into a stranger's car, go to secluded areas with strangers, and for the
most part attempt to conceal their actions for legal reasons. Offenders often rely on all these
factors and specifically target prostitutes because it lowers their chances of becoming a
suspect in the crime. Therefore, in this example, the prostitute is a high risk victim creating a
lower risk to the offender.
Moderate Risk Victims - Victims that fall into this category are lower risk victims, but for
some reason were in a situation that placed them in a greater level of risk. A person that is
stranded on a dark, secluded highway due to a flat tire that accepts a ride from a stranger and
is then victimized would be a good example of this type of victim level risk.

Low Risk Victims - The lifestyle of these individuals would normally not place them in any
degree of risk for becoming a victim of a violent crime. These individuals stay out of trouble,
do not have peers that are criminal, are aware of their surroundings and attempt to take
precautions to not become a victim. They lock the doors, do not use drugs, and do not go into
areas that are dark and secluded.

VICTIM AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

One important and basic factor in the administration of criminal justice is the victims
decision as to whether he should invoke the judicial process. There are a number of motives

and factors responsible for the wide gap between the actual volume of the crime and the
reports made to the police about it.
Only in the 1940s did scholarly interest in the criminal-victim relationship develop, although
the founders of criminology had been aware of how crucial it was. Hans Von Hentig,
Benjamin Mendelsohn and Henry Ellenberger, the last in his study of the psychological
relationship between the criminal and his victims.
It is a parody on the vagaries of the criminal justice systems of the Developing World that
inspite of Thirty years of Independence there has been no conceptual study or empirical
research regarding the victims of criminal offences.
A movement for the recognition of the modern victim of crime as deserving more effective
remedy than the traditional practice of bringing civil suits was begun by the English penal
reformer Margery Fry in 1955. Her call for reform was heeded in New Zealand in 1963,
when that countrys parliament established the first crime compensation tribunal. This board
has discretionary power to award public compensation to the victim or his dependants in the
case of certain specified offences. The next year, Great Britains Tory government announced
a similar but non statuary program. In the United States the first jurisdiction to adopt the
compensation principle was California; which enacted its programs in 1965 and put it into
operation two years later. Since that time, similar or related programs have been established
in some thirty states in the United States and in all the Canadian, provinces. Financial
restitution by the offender to the victim represents another development in the legal handling
of the victim, in the United States, at least forty normal restitution programs are in operation.

VICTIM AS VICTIM OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Students and professionals in the criminal justice system have become increasingly aware
that the victim of a criminal often becomes the victim of criminal justice system as well as
once the victim reports his victimization to the police-the gateway to the criminal justice
system-he routinely faces postponements, delays, rescheduling, and other frustrations. All
their means loss of earnings, waste of time, payment of transportation and other expenses,
discouragement, and the painful realization that the system does not live up to its ideals and
does not serve its constituency, but instead serves only itself. Many believe that the victim is
the most disregarded participant in criminal justice proceedings. In practice, after the victim

has reported his victimization and provided information to the police, he may not hear from
the police or the prosecutor for a long time, if ever, cases are disposed of without any
consultation with the victim if and when the victim is called for the trial, he is treated simply
as the witness for the state and is subject to long delays, postponements, and other frustrating
experiences.
Newly focused attention has brought professional recognition to the victims plight at the
hands of the criminal justice system: As a result, innovative proposals have been
implemented to create victim assistance programmes, to provide the victim with legal and
social referral services, to honor his right to be consulted and to offer his opinions when the
prosecutor plea bargains with the accused, and to totally revamp the compensation-restitution
idea. Some police departments report to victims the progress being made in investigating and
solving their cases, and communities may provide such services as rape crisis centres and
spouse abuse shelters to assist crime victims by intervening in the crisis and referring the
victims to community and others resources in the case of rape, the womens movement has
spurred victimologists- mostly males- to give more equitable and balanced attention to the
issues surrounding what some have called the most despicable but least punished crime.
Attention to the victim calls for an examination of the appropriate remedies for victimization.
Too often the remedies offered to poor victims reflect middle-class values. The victims point
of view should be sought when systems are developed for compensating crime victims, and
the concept of relative loss should be introduced in debate and deliberations for
compensation.

CONCLUSION
The victim is essentially an inseparable part of crime. Therefore the phenomenon of crime
cannot be comprehensively explained without incorporating the victim of a crime. Crime
victim, despite being an integral part of crime and a key factor in criminal justice system,
remained a forgotten entity as his status got reduced only to report crime and appear in the
court as witness and he routinely faces postponements, delays, rescheduling, and other
frustrations. All their means loss of earnings, waste of time, payment of transportation and
other expenses, discouragement, and the painful realization that the system does not live up to

its ideals and does not serve its constituency, but instead serves only itself. Many believe that
the victim is the most disregarded participant in criminal justice proceedings.
It is, therefore, the Indian Higher Courts have started to award the compensation through their
writ jurisdiction in appropriate case.