BJP demands time-bound re-trial in Ruchika case

BJP today criticised the then Om Prakash Chautala government in the Ruchika harassment case, saying it condemned the incident even if its NDA ally was in power and demanded a time-bound re-trial for a stricter punishment for convicted former top cop SP S Rathore.
    
"Whichever government did so, we condemn the incident outright. A time-bound re-trial, which can be completed in three months, should be ordered immediately," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said here.
    
The INLD government led by Chautala has been criticized for the harassment caused to the family of Ruchika Girhotra after they tried to file a case against Rathore, who had molested the 14-year-old in his Haryana Lawn Tennis Federation office in 1990. The girl committed suicide three years later.
    
Chautala has, however, claimed that he did not support Rathore and even suspended him after he was charge-sheeted.
    
"It is high time the government of Haryana moved for a re-trial of the Ruchika case. SP S Rathore represents a systematic abuse of the entire system. First the girl was molested, then no FIR was lodged, her brother was slapped with 11 false cases of car theft and even her post-mortem (report) after suicide was fudged," Prasad said.
    
"This is a painful case which reflects on how a powerful person can abuse power," he added.
    
The BJP demanded that the case be re-opened for the sake of justice.