By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The recent decision of the state government that rape victims in Meghalaya will now be entitled to claim Rs 50,000 as “compensation” under the Meghalaya Victim Compensation Scheme (MVCS) though is a welcome step but money cannot compensate the mental turmoil and the societal behaviour observed many here in the city.
Speaking to The Shillong Times, a working female executive in a private firm said, “I believe the amount should have been more. But having said that no amount can really compensate the dignity of a person,” she said. A school teacher said that she is more concerned about the rehabilitation of the victims. “Money is a temporary relief and it cannot really provide the victim what she has lost. But I would have loved the Chief Minister declaring something in kind of rehabilitation packages for these victims,” she said. She is echoed by another school teacher from Garo Hills and said that the spurt in violence against women in the state is a matter of grave concern and an institute dedicated to their healing is the need of the hour.
A college student said that the country does not have ironically even a single rehabilitation centre for rape victims.
“The victims of sexual assault are mostly women and children who solely depend on their families and civil society groups working for their cause to support and counsel them without any help from the government.
There are few NGOs who run rehabilitation centres to support these victims of heinous crime and assist them to restore their confidence and poise. But there is no uniformity in the procedures they follow as they are not institutionally guided since all these centres are independently run,” she said.
A resident of Jowai working in the city said that Jaintia Hills is one of the worst affected areas in the state when it comes to crime against women. “I feel that the government has done a right thing by starting the MVCS but the bigger call is the increasing safety for women and most importantly rehabilitation centres which will help in better recovery of the victims who encounter rape and other types of sexual assaults. I think that the government has done nothing in this regard so far,” she said.
A university student said that counseling centres will also go a long way to bring these victims to the mainstream.
“Sessions in these centres will definitely help but as of now there is no such centre and so there is no mechanism to trace these victims or even reaching out to them,” she said adding that counseling should be followed up at the same time.
An employee from a city based Self Help Group said that recovering a rape victim from the trauma is very complex as there is a need to assess the impact of the counseling and understand the mindset of the woman.