Ruchika’s school might come under scanner

The Sacred Heart Convent School, which rusticated Ruchika Girhotra ostensibly because she didn’t pay her school fees, may be in for trouble.

Chandigarh education secretary Ram Niwas said the administration would, if required, investigate the role of school authorities in adding to “the trauma of Ruchika who was already in shock after being molested by SPS Rathore”. He said if there is a formal complaint from anybody in the family, “we would surely look into the matter”.

Does the school regret adding to the victim’s trauma? “All this happened a long time ago. It’s an old issue. We don’t want to comment on it,” said a senior school official. “Please don’t ask us anything.”

One of her classmates recalled how, after the incident, Ruchika changed from an upfront student to a scared, scarred and introverted girl. “A girl sitting in the last row with her head buried in her arms, sobbing painfully — that is the last memory I have of Ruchika Girhotra, “ said Gitanjali Gaytri, her classmate.

“I felt her pain in an odd-sort of a way but never tried to reach out to her, never had the courage to ask her the what, where, when and how,” she said.

According to Gaytri, students had heard that the father of another batchmate was the culprit and everyone was aghast at the man’s audacity. “As days passed, I saw Ruchika change from an upfront student to a scared, scarred and introverted girl. At every opportunity, students talked about what might have transpired during the sordid episode.”