New Delhi: BJP on Saturday criticised the then Om
Prakash Chautala government in the Ruchika harassment case,
saying it condemned the incident even if its NDA ally was in
power and demanded a time-bound re-trial for a stricter
punishment for convicted former top cop S P S Rathore.
"Whichever government did so, we condemn the incident
outright. A time-bound re-trial, which can be completed in
three months, should be ordered immediately," BJP spokesperson
Ravi Shankar Prasad said here.
The INLD government led by Chautala has been criticised
for the harassment caused to the family of Ruchika Girhotra
after they tried to file a case against Rathore, who had
molested the 14-year-old in his Haryana Lawn Tennis Federation
office in 1990. The girl committed suicide three years later.
Chautala has, however, claimed that he did not support
Rathore and even suspended him after he was charge-sheeted.
"It is high time the government of Haryana moved for a
re-trial of the Ruchika case. S P S Rathore represents a
systematic abuse of the entire system. First the girl was
molested, then no FIR was lodged, her brother was slapped with
11 false cases of car theft and even her post-mortem (report)
after suicide was fudged," Prasad said.
"This is a painful case which reflects on how a powerful
person can abuse power," he added.
The BJP demanded that the case be re-opened for the sake
of justice.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, December 26, 2009, 19:19