KOCHI: In 2023, at a small rented residence in Aluva, a migrant family was trying to hold itself together after an unimaginable loss. Their five-year-old daughter had been brutally assaulted and murdered. Unfathomable grief shrouded the household.
Cut back to the present. And in a significant step, the Kerala State Legal Services Authority (KeLSA) on Wednesday informed the Kerala High Court that Rs 15 lakh had been sanctioned as compensation from the state victim compensation fund for the child’s parents, with the amount expected to be released within 48 hours.
The child had gone missing on July 28 of that year. Days later, her lifeless body was discovered in a sack, discarded in a marshy garbage dump near the Aluva market. Postmortem findings confirmed she had been subjected to sexual assault and strangulation.
An inquiry report presented before the court painted a picture of a family struggling with poverty even before the tragedy struck. Hailing from Bihar, the parents had moved to Kerala in search of better opportunities for their children. Today, they survive by selling food items on a pushcart.
A local MLA contributes towards their rent. The parents now have four children. The eldest two attend school and have adapted to life in Kerala, learning to converse fluently in Malayalam, the report of the District Legal Service Authority, Ernakulam said.
According to the report, the mother, however, continues to grapple with trauma.
Her grief remains raw, and she expressed a desperate need for justice, asking when the convicted person would face punishment. Following trial, a special court had awarded the death penalty to Ashwaq Alam.
Taking into account their financial hardship and emotional suffering, the authority said the legal representatives of the victim are jointly entitled to Rs 15 lakh as compensation.
The report was filed in response to a petition by Satheesh V T of Aluva accusing the state government of not properly enforcing registration of migrant workers, based on provisions of the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act.
The petitioner also sought a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the family of the victim. The petitioner also sought to enforce labour laws and welfare measures for migrant workers to ensure safe and healthy working conditions.
When the case came up for hearing, the bench led by Chief Justice Soumen Sen directed the government to submit a report on the status of the victim compensation fund, ensuring transparency and accountability in such cases.
The petition also raised broader concerns about the living and working conditions of migrant labourers in the state.
2023 incident
The child had gone missing on July 28 in 2023
Days later, her body was found in a sack, discarded in a garbage dump near Aluva market
Postmortem findings confirmed she had been subjected to sexual assault and strangulation