Jinshan prosecutors help victims of crime

Prosecutors in Jinshan District have helped 18 victims involved in criminal cases get nearly 250,000 yuan (US$34,992) in judicial relief in the past 18 months, Jinshan District People's Procuratorate said on Wednesday.

They included people involved in traffic accidents, intentional injury cases, sexual assault and fraud. The procuratorate also opened a green channel for those in urgent need of medical treatment.

Under a national guideline, the minimum amount of judicial relief the procuratorate can give each victim was raised from 6,000 yuan in 2016 to this year’s 10,000 yuan. For those suffering serious injury or huge loss, the amount could be up to 50,000 yuan, according to regulations issued by the Shanghai People's Procuratorate.

Besides funding, the procuratorate also provided psychological counseling services and cooperated with other organizations such as medical institutions and civil affairs authorities to ensure the long-term health and wellbeing of victims. 

"Our psychological counseling services are mainly for the elderly and minor victims who suffered great mental damage in crimes. If these people had depression, it may take them a long time to recover as well as a large cost of treatment," said prosecutor Shen Chunlei. "For those very poor families, we contact the civil affairs authorities and their neighborhood or village committee to seek long-term economic support for them."

In a case in February, prosecutors received a call from a mother in epidemic-stricken Hubei Province whose daughter had been molested by a teacher at a training school in Jinshan, causing her physical injury and mental distress and requiring urgent medical treatment and psychological counseling.

Prosecutors applied for 20,000 yuan in judicial relief for the family and contacted a psychological counselor for the girl. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the counseling was done online.

In another case, a boy was injured in Jinshan after being chased and attacked by a mental patient armed with a knife on August 7 last year. He also witnessed another victim's death.

The boy, from a migrant family from Jiangxi Province, returned home after medical treatment but when the procuratorate heard that the attacker's family couldn't afford compensation, they helped him apply for judicial relief and provided online psychological counseling.

Meanwhile, Xuhui District People's Procuratorate held a public hearing on judicial relief on Wednesday for a retired man who had been injured by his neighbor and spent nearly 100,000 yuan on medical treatment. The man's wife suffers from a serious illness and the family required urgent economic support.

Last week, Yangpu District People's Procuratorate had a public hearing to help a woman get judicial relief after her husband was stabbed to death by his father, a gambling addict who had been drinking.