Panchkula:
Sixteen years ago on this day, Ruchika Girhotra ended her life as she couldn't take the trauma anymore. Her crime, she had dared to complain against a top cop DGP Rathore who had molested her three years ago. And the last nineteen years have been sheer agony for family and friends.
Fighting for justice, her friend Aradhana recalls the time when Ruchika used to play Lawn Tennis with her.
"I remember clearly we used to come to the court and play. We both would watch Monika Seles and Steffy Graph's games. Therefore, when I come here it becomes very difficult for me. I can see her everywhere, her smiling face, her strokes, her body language. She was so active. I can't play this game ever again. She used to beat me every time. Once I tried with my husband in Australia but I couldn't. So yes, I'll be living with the feelings that I shared with Ruchika for the rest of my life. It was a really ugly incident for us. It changed our outlook towards life," said Aradhana.
The incident that took one, but changed many lives forever. Ruchika succumbed to the trauma, Aradhana continues to live it.
Tireless, she is determined to fight it out till her best friend gets the justice she deserves. Now, settled in Australia, Aradhana has two children. But even their needs have taken a back seat. Aradhana is first attending to Ruchika's case.
Friendship before motherhood, stealing time to feed her children, Aradhana is an unreal example of a friendship, that we have read in books but rarely seen in life.
Her entire family had embraced Ruchika when she was alive and fought for her like their own after her death.
"She was my daughter's friend. I had motherly feeling towards her as her mother had died. We used to talk. I feel very sad when I remember her. She would have had her own family today," said Manju Prakash, Aradhana's mother.
A wife, a mother, possibly a successful tennis player, Ruchika's life was interrupted. Today is her 16th death anniversary. When all others forgot and left, Aradhana remembered her friend and the promise she made to her.
Aradhana's sister Adhunika remembers, "Aradhna and Ruchika would talk. She would tell her, don't worry Ruchika we will get out of this and Ruchika's response would be I won't worry about him. She was very bold."
Ruchika was broken and failed by a system she trusted in, but her best friend is still standing and fighting.
"I salute her for fighting for 3 years but she was blaming herself. Three years of harassment can break anybody. I feel she has left me alone in this fight. Had she been here, things would have been different," said Aradhana.