Aus News 17: Compensation insult to bikeway rapist's last victim

A serial bikeway rapist from Brisbane has been caught and jailed for 16 years. However, this case creates another issue regarding the compensation for the victim. The last victim, a 29-year-old woman, who was raped and is now living like a virtual recluse, has received a compensation of $21,750. This amount seems unfair to the lady as the two witnesses of the case who managed to assist the police to arrest the rapist by just writing down the rapist's registration number have been granted $25,000, which is apparently more than the amount the victim received. This payment is seen as an insult for the victim as the one-off act of the two kind citizens has been granted higher than the suffering she is facing now or even for the rest of her life. The rapist mentioned that he has no assets and no means of paying the money and the lady will now have to apply to the State Government to make an ex-gratia payment.

Comment:
The compensation for the victim and the grant for the two witnesses should be seen separately as two different issues. I agree that the two helpful citizens deserve the rewards and it can be an example to encourage the society to cooperate with the authorities by providing information whenever it is needed, rather that sit back and afraid of being involved in the case. As for the victim, unfortunately, it is hard for the government to pay full compensation, but then she could try to apply to get the compensation on her damage. Some may say that it is definitely unfair for a victim who has suffered a dreadful ordeal to fight hardly for the right amount of compensation that she supposed to get, but don't you think that a more practical counselling for the victim sounds more logical, rather than just paying the compensation in the form of money, which has nothing to do with the psychological damage of the victim? Think about it!