New Delhi:
Exactly 16 years ago, to the day, Ruchika Girhotra drank poison to kill herself. She died in hospital the next day. She was 18.
In 1999, SPS Rathore was promoted to Director General of Police in Haryana - six years after he allegedly molested Ruchika.
With her story now the focus of a national debate, Ruchika's friends and family want you to help in their fight for justice. For her death anniversary this year, they have launched an online campaign at joinaradhna4ruchika@gmail.com
"I feel that Ruchika is still alive in every girl who is being molested, and violence against women. I request you to join us ... . I am launching a fight against molesters and against this system, also for fight for justice for my friend Ruchika" says Aradhana Parkash Gupta, who, as a teen, witness Ruchika being molested by a senior police officer in Haryana. Since then, Aradhana and her father have led a campaign to ensure that the policeman, SS Rathore, pays for assaulting a 14-year-old and then harassing her family, driving her to commit suicide.
It hasn't been easy but now thousands of Indians all over the world are pledging their support, giving Aradhana the strength to keep fighting. Last week, a court sentenced Rathore to six months in prison. He was granted bail immediately, and left the courthouse smiling. National outrage has followed, as a series of bureaucrats, investigating officers and policemen have come forward with stories of how Rathore used his power and influence to ensure that the charges against him were minor, and that the trial was delayed for nearly a decade. Rathore retired as the police chief of Haryana. What got him off the hook? Largely, political backers: Four successive chief ministers failed to take any action against him even though he was indicted for his crime by a police inquiry within days of Ruchika filing her complaint against him).
The campaign for Ruchika wants to see Rathore charged with abetment to suicide amounting to murder - a charge that many legal experts say is valid in Rathore's case. It's also what the CBI concluded in its inquiry into Ruchika's death. However, when a CBI judge recommended this tougher charge, Rathore appealed against it in the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2001 and won his case.
But the fact remains that many of those now speaking out against Rathore could have done much more to draw public attention to Rathore's manipulation of the system. As Joint Director of the CBI, RM Singh was one of the key investigating officials against Rathore at that time. He says, "The charges included abetment to suicide and I sent it to the collector for final orders. When Rathore came to know of abetment charges, he met the director personally and complained that R M Singh asked for money." Had R M Singh spoken out against Rathore back then in the year 2000, the case would have exposed some of the innumerable lapses that were piling up.
The goal for Aradhana now is to see the case against Rathore re-opened with him accused of abetment to suicide.