Panchkula, Haryana: It started out as a candlelight vigil for Ruchika Girhotra, but soon turned into a protest march, with people walking to the doorstep of the retired police officer who molested the 14-year-old.
On Thursday evening, a group of 200 people gathered in Panchkula in Haryana, where Ruchika was sexually abused by SPS Rathore in 1990. Three years later, she killed herself.
On Monday, Rathore was sentenced to six months in prison, and then granted bail. Public outrage over that sentence has been building steadily, amid proof that Rathore was protected for several years from any action by political benefactors.
The march on Thursday evening saw protestors walking four kilometers in the winter chill to Rathore's house where policeman with shields were standing guard. The march then headed back to its starting point.
Rathore retired as Haryana's senior-most police officer in 2002.
In 1990, he was the President of the Haryana Lawn Tennis Federation. Ruchika was a promising young tennis player. After she reported Rathore, her family was persecuted by the police. Her brother was framed for theft. Ruchika was expelled from her school. Exhausted from her fight against a powerful policeman, she drank poison.
Her childhood friend, Aradhana Parkash, fought to get a CBI inquiry. Rathore's sentence is a result of that case.
On Thursday evening, a group of 200 people gathered in Panchkula in Haryana, where Ruchika was sexually abused by SPS Rathore in 1990. Three years later, she killed herself.
On Monday, Rathore was sentenced to six months in prison, and then granted bail. Public outrage over that sentence has been building steadily, amid proof that Rathore was protected for several years from any action by political benefactors.
Rathore retired as Haryana's senior-most police officer in 2002.
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Her childhood friend, Aradhana Parkash, fought to get a CBI inquiry. Rathore's sentence is a result of that case.
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