14-year-old Ruchika was molested by SPS Rathore, the then inspector general of police in Haryana, on August 12, 1990. She committed suicide in 1993.
Nineteen years after molesting a budding tennis player on August 12, 1990, and driving her to suicide, former Haryana director general of police (DGP) SPS Rathore not only got away lightly on Monday, when a CBI court sentenced him to six months in prison, but also was a free bird again as the court granted him bail immediately after pronouncing the sentence.
Rathore, then inspector general of police and president of Haryana Lawn Tennis Association, was convicted of molesting 14-year-old Ruchika Girotra, who, unable to bear the mental harassment that followed and pressure on her family to withdraw the case, drank a poisonous substance to end her life three years later, in 1993.
The molestation came to light after Anand Parkash, father of Ruchika’s friend Reemu, who was the lone eyewitness to the crime committed in Rathore’s office-cum-residence in Panchkula, 10 km from Chandigarh, lodged a police complaint.
The CBI took over the case in 1998 following the Haryana government’s inaction on an official report indicting Rathore. It filed a charge sheet two years later in the Ambala court. The case was subsequently transferred to the CBI special court in Patiala and later to Chandigarh.
During the pendency of the case, Rathore was promoted by successive governments in Haryana till he became DGP in 1994. He retired in 2002 without being punished by the state government.
Emerging from the court, Rathore said, “I have great faith in the judicial system. I will file an appeal by January 20. I will finally emerge a winner because truth will prevail.”
Parkash, a retired government officer, said, “The sentence is lenient, but we are happy that he [Rathore] has been sentenced.” He said the CBI court failed to include the charge of abetment to suicide, due to which Rathore got a lesser term.
Parkash said several “frivolous” cases were slapped on him in the meanwhile. Ruchika’s brother was implicated in a series of theft cases, causing harassment to the family and forcing her father to move the Punjab and Haryana high court seeking CBI intervention. The family was harassed so much that it shifted from Panchkula to an undisclosed location after her death.
“Rathore not only spoke against judges during the trial period, but was also instrumental in getting some judges shifted and influencing witnesses,” Parkash alleged.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}