Rathore hounded my family for years, says Ruchika’s father

Ever since Ruchika Girhotra decided to fight her tormentor SPS Rathore, he pulled out all stops to harass her family. Ruchika Girhotra was molested by the senior IPS officer in 1990. Three years later, the teenager ended her life, frustrated at being harassed at very turn.

SC Girhotra, the father of Ruchika, was in tears narrating how he and his son had been running from Rathore for years. “They harassed her [Ruchika] so much that she committed suicide. So why was Rathore not charged with abetment to suicide? Initially, the special magistrate had passed an order that it was abetment to suicide,” Girhotra said. A person convicted of abetment to suicide by a minor can be given death penalty or life imprisonment or a jail term up to 10 years under section 305 of the IPC.

“My son Ashu was tormented and false cases were filed against him. Rathore followed us to Shimla  where we shifted from Panchkula. He used to come everywhere,” said the teen’s father.

“Rathore used every type of political influence to harass us. The police used to come knocking at our doors at odd hours, at midnight and at 2 am,” he said.

Girhotra said his son was pressurised to ask Ruchika to withdraw the complaint and deny that such an incident had happened. “But my daughter was a truthful girl and the complaint was not withdrawn,” he said.

Ruchika’s father accused politicians of “patronising a criminal”. “Chautala was the main person behind him. Rathore used to carry out all his [Chautala’s] wrong deeds. Even after RR Singh (Haryana DGP in 1990) recommended that a case be registered against Rathore, the government took no action,” Girhotra said.

“I have lost my sweet child. My daughter was driven to suicide,” Girhotra said. “My family was uprooted. My son was booked in false cases and my house was stoned.”

Ruchika’s father sought “exemplary punishment” for Rathore so that “no other girl faces the situation my daughter went through”.