I read this news article in “The Times of India”, and was surprised to know that a compensations equivalent to what are given out in the USA can be got in India. Quite some years back, this swimmer has slipped on a pool floor at a Delhi hotel, and was paralysed waist down. After a long struggle in the court, the swimmer has been awarded a compensation of rs. 5 crore. Though not as big an amount as anyone would have got in the USA, this is still a respectable amount, and I don’t think that such an amount has ever being awarded to a person in India, who has been wronged for life.
I just hope that this is not just for a foreign citizen, but such a practice is followed in case of Indian citizens too. There are numerous cases daily, where a person loses his life, or his future due to the negligence of someone else. Let’s take an example of the terrorist attack on Mumbai. That was the negligence on the part of the government, the security agencies. But I think the poor who died at the Chatrapatti Shivaji Terminus, were awarded a few lakh rupees, a very small amount considering the soaring inflation. And I think many might have not yet received the compensation. Meanwhile, I am sure that Susan Leigh Beer will receive it promptly.