Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: The Ruchika Girhotra molestation case on Friday took political overtones as former Haryana CM OP Chautala accused previous Congress governments in the state of supporting ex-DGP SPS Rathore who was convicted in the case on Monday.
Chautala who has been accused by Ruchika's father S C Girhotra of protecting Rathore, said he had taken "strong action" against the
officer who had been promoted by subsequent governments.
"We took strong action against him. During my
government (in 1990), we instituted a departmental inquiry
against him. In my tenure later, we suspended him from the
post of DGP as he was facing chargesheet in the case. He
(Rathore) was promoted to the post of ADGP and DGP during the
governments of Bhajan Lal and Bansi Lal. They should be blamed
for the promotion," he told reporters here.
14-year-old Ruchika, a budding tennis player, was
molested in 1990 by Rathore, the then Inspector General of
Police. She committed suicide three years later by consuming
poison. Her family said she took this step after facing
harassment from Rathore. She was expelled from her school
and false cases were slapped against her brother, they said.
Rathore was helt guilty for molesting Ruchika by a
CBI court which sentenced him on Monday to six months rigorous
imprisonmment. Rathore was granted bail the same day.
Bhajan Lal rejected the accusation outright and said Rathore was promoted during Chautala’s regime.
His son Kuldeep Bishnoi asked why the government was not taking any action against the officers who were allegedly troubling the Girhotras.
Reacting to the allegations, the Congress party remarked that Chautala could not obfuscate the facts of the case as given out by the father of the victim herself.
“Its unfortunate that this incident is being politicised. Chautala can’t gloss over his irregularities,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said here. His colleague Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the current government of BS Hooda will take appropriate action in filing an appeal against Rathore.
Meanwhile, the father of Ruchika;s friend Aradhana, Anand Prakash, who fought the case with the victim’s family, said false evidence was produced before the court by the CBI.
“This is total failure of judicial and political system. All parties, including the Congress, are to be blamed for the mess,” he said.
First Published: Friday, December 25, 2009, 14:49