Ruchika case should be re-opened, says friend

CHANDIGARH - Aradhana Gupta, a close friend of Ruchika Girhotra who was molested by former Haryana director general of police (DGP) S.P.S. Rathore 19 years ago, Tuesday demanded the case be re-opened for better justice.

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Chandigarh Monday held Rathore guilty of molesting 14-year-old Ruchika here Aug 12, 1990, and sentenced him to a six-month prison term with a fione of Rs.1,000. The teen-ager committed suicide three years after the molestation incident.

Aradhana, who was the prime witness to 14-year-old Ruchika’s molestation by Rathore, said the six-month imprisonment given to Rathore was “too less” and demanded that the case be re-investigated.

“Like the Jessica Lal and Priyadarshi Mattoo cases, this case should also be reopened and the guilty be punished. Ruchika was not only molested by Rathore but driven to death,” Aradhana told IANS here.

She said the sentence was too little and that she and her parents, Anand and Madhu Prakash, would go to a higher court for justice.

Rathore was an inspector general of police at that time and was charged of molesting the minor girl in his office as president of the Haryana Lawn Tennis Association (HLTA) in Panchkula. Both girls used to play tennis there.

Ruchika committed suicide in December 1993, three years after the incident, following continuous mental harassment of her and her family to pressurise them to withdraw the case against the all-powerful Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.