Plights of the victims of crimes

In most countries including Bangladesh, officially reported crimes are only 'the tip of the iceberg' as many crimes go unnoticed and unreported to the machinery of law due to a plethora of reasons. Code of Criminal Procedure 1898, Penal Code 1860 and Evidence Act 1872 along with few special laws that laid the basic foundation of legal regime dealing with substantive offences and criminal procedure are followed by our criminal justice system.  Though victims in general set the law in motion by lodging a complaint or first information report (ejahar), in essence victims of crimes have no excepting to be witnesses.  Though few special laws offer bit of protection to the victims of crimes, in practice the victims are still considered to be forgotten persons of our justice system which still bears the age-old colonial legacy.
Rights and plights of the victims are summed up as follows:
* A victim can lodge an information relating to the commission of a cognisable offence in black and white or orally to an officer in charge of a police station (Section 154 of Code of Criminal Procedure 1898). This is known as filing ejahar in police case or general register (GR) case. Similarly, a victim can file a complaint (section 4(h)) to the Magistrate of facts which constitute an offence and Magistrate can take cognisance of such offence accordingly (Section 190(1)(a)).
* Magistrate taking cognisance of an offence on a complaint  at once upon oath examines the complainant and present witnesses including the victim (section 200).
* Police officer investigating an offence examines orally any persons (which necessarily include a crime- victim) supposed to be acquainted with facts and circumstances of the case (Section 161).
* A Magistrate records any statement or confession of victims in the course of investigation after observing all legal formalities (Section164 of Code of Criminal Procedure, section 22 of Nari o Shishu Nirjatan Daman Ain  (NSJD) 2000).
* It is worth-mentioning that in complaint case a complainant or victim directly and actively participates in the proceeding, but in police case he stands on a different footing as a mere prosecution witness. Victim may appear as a witness in complaint case whereas he is required to be produced as Prosecution witness in police case. It is the individual responsibility of the complainant to produce his witness including the victim. However, in police case it is the duty of the police officer (prosecution) to ensure appearance of the witnesses including victim (section 171(2)).
* In practice, the compensation provision of the Criminal Procedure Code is of little value. According to section 545, when a monetary fine is imposed as the sole or an additional punishment, the court may, at its discretion, direct all or part be paid to the victim. Regrettably this power is sparingly exercised in subordinate Courts. However, if there is an acquittal or if the offender cannot be apprehended, there is no opportunity for victim compensation. In cases where the state is the perpetrator, the higher courts, while exercising the writ jurisdiction for the violation of fundamental rights  sometimes order compensation to be paid by the state for certain crimes. Nevertheless, such remedies are extremely rare.
* Provisions for recovery of loss or compensation from offenders through the criminal justice process have been incorporated in some special statutes including Nari o Shishu Nirjaton Domon Ain (NSND) 2000, Jatio Aingoto Sohayota Ain 2002 etc.  
* Section 345 provides a list of offences of the Penal Code of 1860 which are   designated as compoundable offences with or without the permission of the Court. In practice, compounding an offence as such offers the victims to press home their demand for compensation obliquely. In non-compoundable offences, there is a tendency on the part of the victims to give obliging evidence  in favour of the accused during trial. This may happen due to some kind of patch –up with the accused and the victim. However, in some grave cases like murder, rape, possessing illegal arms, victims/ witnesses sometimes feel insecure for giving testimony against hardened criminals. In this regard, the United Nations General Assembly in 1985 adopted Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power which provide: Victim should be treated with compensation and respect for their dignity. Judicial and administrative mechanism should be established and strengthened where necessary to enable victims to obtain redress through formal and informal procedures …
 Over the couple of decades victimology has witnessed tremendous development in the UK and the US. Our neighbouring countries are lagging behind in this regard. In Bangladesh there is a widespread concern among the stakeholders over the lack of rights and protection of victims and witnesses. In absence of such protection of victims justice in criminal proceedings sometimes becomes jeopardised. Therefore, an exhaustive statute for protecting the rights of the victim is urgently required.

The writer is Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate at Bangladesh Judicial Service.