VII. Rights of Victims A. Background The position of victims has not merited the attention it deserves. In the pursuit of investigation and prosecution of crime, victims are sometimes overlooked, poorly protected or even mistreated by police officers. Any citizen might become a victim. Police must ensure that they treat every victim with dignity, respect and compassion, irrespective of the victim’s religion, caste, status, sex, age, etc. Police officers should always avoid treating victims of crime in a way that compounds the initial suffering resulting from the crime itself. Such people are already victims at the time when police attends to them, and have suffered because of the actions of someone else. Therefore, police should not treat them in such a way that they effectively become victims for a second time. The importance of proper training on how to deal with and support victims of crime cannot be overstated. Similarly, there is an overarching need at police station level for systems and information for referring victims to supportive agencies. B. The Law Says Constitution of India The obligations of the State in the Indian Constitution to protect and help victims of violation of human rights can be culled from Article 14 and Article 21, which contain important fundamental rights to be read with directive principles of State policy contained in Articles 39-A, 41, 46 and 51(c) of the Constitution. The first part of Article 14 says that the State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.. The second part of the article has a positive content indicating an obligation on the State to extend “equal protection of law” to every person. It is the responsibility of the State to prosecute offenders and provide retribution for offence to the victims of crime. When the State has undertaken the responsibility to protect “right to life and property” of all its citizens, it is the obligation of the State not only to prosecute the offenders as violators of human rights but at the same time to extend help and support to the victims of crime. 52 Manual on Human Rights for Police Officers