Pune: The Pune District Legal Services Authority (PDLSA) has approved financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh under the state’s Manodhairya scheme for the family of a nine-and-a-half-year-old girl who allegedly died after being sexually assaulted in Junnar taluka on Aug 18.The decision was taken on Monday, the first day in office of Anju Shende, the newly appointed principal district and sessions judge and chairperson of the PDLSA.Shende directed officials to convene an urgent meeting in view of the gravity of the case. Documents related to the case were examined, and the assistance was approved, officials said.Under the Manodhairya Scheme, financial assistance is provided to survivors of rape, sexual assault and acid attacks. In cases where a victim dies, the scheme provides assistance to the affected family. The financial assistance is to be provided within seven days of the crime.A case under the Pocso Act and for murder has been registered against the accused at Alephata police station. He has been remanded in police custody till Aug 31.“The judiciary is committed to providing immediate financial assistance, legal protection and psychological support to victims and their families in sensitive cases,” PDLSA secretary Judge Revati Deshpande said.Shende, who joined the judicial service as a district judge in 2010, has served in several specialised courts, including Pocso, CBI, SEBI and atrocities-against-women courts. She has also served as principal district judge in Beed, Bhandara, Dharashiv and Ahilyanagar and as registrar at the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court.
