Maneka bats for timely interim relief to male child victim

New Delhi, May 30: Batting for equal rights to male child victims of sexual abuse as of girls, Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has urged the states and union territories to provide interim compensation on time, an official statement said on Wednesday. In a letter to all the Chief Ministers/UT Administrators, she has asked them to issue necessary directions to the departments concerned to take necessary steps for including male child victims of sexual abuse in the “Victim Compensation Scheme/Fund”. The letter comes in response of non-uniform and unsatisfactory disbursements of compensations to male child abuse victims despite 31 states, according to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, having notified their Victim Compensation Scheme under the Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Rules, 2012. The letter stresses that male child who is the most neglected victim of child sexual abuse is being ignored for award of compensation and needs to be included in it. (IANS)