AHMEDABAD: The
Gujarat
high court on Tuesday asked the Centre and the state government to come up with a reply on Wednesday on how they can fund the surgery on the badly damaged esophagus of an acid attack victim, who has been under treatment since 2012.
The state government and the Centre conceded before the court that the victim is entitled to compensation under its schemes.
The question was which government should compensate the victim and under which scheme. Justice
Sangeeta Vishen
told the Centre that it would be too technical for it to say no to the victim for compensation.
The state of
Rajasthan has paid Rs 3 lakh compensation to her and the state of Gujarat has born the expenditure of her initial treatment.
The 29-year-old woman is now seeking medical aid for a surgery that she needs to undergo in a private hospital for her damaged esophagus because she was forced to ingest acid allegedly by her husband and in-laws on August 13, 2012 in Alwar, Rajasthan.
Her parents, who live in Gujarat, brought her to Ahmedabad. In 2017, she moved the high court for compensation.
Now, the victim is seeking Rs 5 lakh financial assistance from the state government under the Central Victim Compensation Fund, and compensation of Rs 1 lakh under the Prime Minister National Relief Fund (
PMNRF
). Her advocate
Nisarg Sanjay Shah
submitted to the court that the victim has got some funds from voluntary organisation, but since the surgery would cost around Rs 8 lakh, she still falls short of Rs 5 lakh.
After doctors in government hospitals expressed their inability to carry out surgery on the victim, she obtained opinions from other hospitals across the country. Two private hospitals including one in Ahmedabad showed their willingness to perform the surgery on her.
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