The Delhi High Court on Friday indicted the state government for delaying the compensation to a 21-year-old acid attack victim and directed it to release the payment immediately.

The order follows a plea filed by the victim, who alleged that despite several representations and meetings with state authorities, it had failed to help her even though she was attacked over six months ago.

According to her plea, when the victim was walking back home in East Delhi from work, one evening in August last year, suddenly two men on a bike accosted her. Before she could figure out what was happening, one of them flung a bottle of acid on her face.

She later found out that one of her relatives had hired the two men for attacking her. The reason - she had spurned his advances and refused a marriage proposal from him. This man was 32-years-old. She was attacked at around 7.30 pm that evening, in the presence of countless passersby and two policemen who were stationed close to the spot where she was attacked.

Some onlookers then took her to the nearby GTB Hospital where she was treated for the burns on her face and neck. However, the hospital did not have corrective surgery facilities and referred her to a private hospital.

The cost of the surgery posed a big problem. The victim's father worked as a security guard at a hospital and she used to work part time as a helper at an adhesive factory in Delhi. Later, the Delhi government had announced a compensation of Rs 3 lakh for her in accordance with SC norms.

However, after making that announcement, the state seemed to forget all about it. It was then that she approached the Delhi HC through the Human Rights Law Network. In a hearing earlier this month, the HC directed the state to look into the issue and release the payment.