Ruchika Girhotra Case

The Ruchika Girhotra Case involves the molestation of 14-year-old Ruchika Girhotra in 1990 by the Inspector General of Police Shambhu Pratap Singh Rathore (S.P.S. Rathore) in Haryana, India. After she made a complaint, the victim, her family, and her friends were systematically harassed by the police leading to her eventual suicide. On December 22, 2009, after 19 years, 40 adjournments, and more than 400 hearings, the court finally pronounced Rathore guilty under Section 354 IPC(molestation) and sentenced him to six months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000. The CBI had opposed Rathore's plea and had sought an enhancement of his sentence from six months to the maximum of two years after his conviction. Rejecting his appeal against his conviction by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court, Chandigarh District Court on May 25 sentenced the disgraced former police official to one and a half years of rigorous imprisonment, enhancing his earlier six-month sentence and immediately taken into custody and taken to the Burail prison. On 11 November 2010, the Supreme Court granted bail to S P S Rathore on the condition that he should not leave Chandigarh.

Background

Ruchika Girhotra was a student in Class X A (Batch of 1991) at Sacred Heart School for Girls in Chandigarh. Her father, S.C Girhotra, was a manager with UCO Bank. Her mother died when she was ten years old.She had one brother, Ashu.

Ruchika, along with her friend Aradhna Prakash, was enrolled as a trainee at the Haryana Lawn Tennis Association (HLTA).

Aradhna's parents Anand and Madhu Prakash attended over 400 hearings, after Ruchika's father and brother had to leave Panchkula due to harassment. Supreme Court lawyers Pankaj Bhardwaj and Meet Malhotra fought the case for free since 1996.

Born in 1941 and a 1966-Batch Indian Police Service officer of the Haryana Cadre, Rathore was on deputation to Bhakhra Beas Management Board as Director, Vigilance and Security, when he molested Ruchika. He was the founding president of the Haryana Lawn Tennis Association, and Rathore used the garage of his house at 469 Sector 6, Panchkula, as its office. The house used to have a clay tennis court behind it, built by encroaching on government land. A few young girls played in this court. Action by local authorities later led to the tennis court being reduced to a badminton court.

Rathore's wife Abha is an advocate. She defended his case from the beginning. She practices law in Panchkula and Chandigarh from her office in Sector 6, Panchkula.Ajay Jain is another counsel for Rathore.

Rathore's daughter, Priyanjali, was Ruchika's classmate. She is now a practising lawyer. His son, Rahul, used to practice law at the Punjab and Haryana High Courts. He is an advocate with Cox & Kings in Mumbai.

Sub-Inspector Prem Dutt and Assistant Sub-Inspectors Sewa Singh and Jai Narayan of the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) Staff Office in Mansa Devi tortured Ashu under the directions of Rathore.

Sewa Singh is currently the Assistant Station House Officer of Pinjore police station. He has not reported for work since the sentencing of Rathore created national headlines. He lives in Ratpur colony in Pinjore. Ajay Jain is also serving as his counsel.