Rajesh Ranjan, the CBI officer who had investigated the Ruchika case, says there was not enough evidence then to file charges of abetment to suicide against SPS Rathore, who had molested the 14-year-old.
Rathore, a top cop in Haryana had molested Ruchika Girhotra in 1990. After months of her family and her being harassed, Ruchika committed suicide in 1993.
The CBI's role has been questioned for not having pursued charges of abetment to suicide against Rathore. Last week, Rathore was sentenced to only six months in jail, and got immediate bail, on the charge of molestation.
Ranjan, now IGP Headquarters with the Bihar Police, says: "We had to look for concrete evidence to prove abetment of suicide...but the girl committed suicide three years after the incident, and there was no suicide note, no dying declaration."
In the months preceding Ruchika's death, the Girhotra family says her brother Ashu was implicated in a number of false cases and subjected to torture and humiliation. Ranjan says Ashu's statement was not registered because, "we tried to speak with the boy many times, but he was not forthcoming; I asked Mr Anand Prakash for help, yet the boy did not come forward." Anand Prakash is the father of Ruchika's friend Aradhana, whose family has fought a long battle against Rathore to get justice for Ruchika.
Ranjan says Anand Prakash pursued the case all along, even more than Ruchika's father. He adds that had "Ashu cooperated with us, the case would have been different.
The former investigating officer, who emphatically states that "my conscience is absolutely clear, I have done no wrong", describes Rathore as "an arrogant man who cross examined me many times during the trial."
The CBI, he says, had taken legal opinion from a known lawyer before filing the chargesheet.
Rathore, a top cop in Haryana had molested Ruchika Girhotra in 1990. After months of her family and her being harassed, Ruchika committed suicide in 1993.
The CBI's role has been questioned for not having pursued charges of abetment to suicide against Rathore. Last week, Rathore was sentenced to only six months in jail, and got immediate bail, on the charge of molestation.
Ranjan, now IGP Headquarters with the Bihar Police, says: "We had to look for concrete evidence to prove abetment of suicide...but the girl committed suicide three years after the incident, and there was no suicide note, no dying declaration."
In the months preceding Ruchika's death, the Girhotra family says her brother Ashu was implicated in a number of false cases and subjected to torture and humiliation. Ranjan says Ashu's statement was not registered because, "we tried to speak with the boy many times, but he was not forthcoming; I asked Mr Anand Prakash for help, yet the boy did not come forward." Anand Prakash is the father of Ruchika's friend Aradhana, whose family has fought a long battle against Rathore to get justice for Ruchika.
Ranjan says Anand Prakash pursued the case all along, even more than Ruchika's father. He adds that had "Ashu cooperated with us, the case would have been different.
The former investigating officer, who emphatically states that "my conscience is absolutely clear, I have done no wrong", describes Rathore as "an arrogant man who cross examined me many times during the trial."
The CBI, he says, had taken legal opinion from a known lawyer before filing the chargesheet.
