To: The President of India, The Chief Justice of India, The Prime Minister of India,The Home Minister of India, The Law Minister of India, The U.P.A. Chairperson Mrs. Sonia Gandhi
We the people of India had hoped after Jessica Lal’s case that such a travesty of justice will never happen again. Yet it has happened and with a vehemence which takes our breath away.
Ruchika was not Jessica though both were innocent victims. Ruchika was a child and Jessica was an adult. She was doing her job and Ruchika was just playing tennis.
The killer was not a drunken arrogant young man but middle aged Inspector General of Police and he was not drunk with liquor though blind with lust and power.
Jessica’s killer ran away trying to hide himself, here is a man who followed the child for nearly four years till she committed suicide. SPS Rathore, the animal, the barbarian and the scheming crook, cooked up seven cases, against Ruchika brother, stoned the house, hounded the little child, influenced the school, and did everything vile deed to drive Ruchika to death.
This much we know, what we do not know, is what kind of other men were governing our country who do not do their plain duty, which led to this tragedy.
Let us name them and shame them and heap curses on them and if possible bring them to book. The first man is the area SHO (Station House Officer) of the police station whose plain duty was to register the crime as FIR and investigate it. He failed. The then DGP RR Singh, who comes on TV screens and meekly says I, was under political pressure. No one has yet asked him, is it your duty to yield under pressure. A DGP needs no permission from the Home Secretary or Minister or Chief Minister to register the crime and commence the investigation. He never did his duty. Unworthy of the post he was holding. Same goes for the Home Secretary and the SP In charge of Panchkula. The Minister’s burden and that of the Chief Minister comes much later but they also need to answer why they applied pressure though it does not exonerate the officials whose first duty under the law is to with stand all pressure and do what is required to be done. For registration of an FIR no once permission is needed. It is as simple as that. Next is the role of the school Principal, whose first duty was to counsel the child, protect the child and not to concoct a ground for rustication at the behest of an animal, a barbarian and a crook. Lastly the role of the policemen who concocted the false cases and tortured the brother of Ruchika and stoned her house and used to follow her. Who is that man who had telephoned the father of Ruchika even on the day of the judgment? We must unmask all these animals. Even the CBI Investigation Officer cannot escape from the stark truth that he did not framed the charge sheet correctly and did not include the charge of abetment to suicide. He made it simply outraging the modesty of women knowing very well that she is no more and circumstances are too big to be ignored.
We must appreciate the Judicial Magistrate First Class of Ambala who charged the animal, the barbarian and the crook with abetment to suicide but alas for every good judge in the sub-ordinate judiciary, you have a fool or a dishonest or an approachable High Court judge.
Let us find out in which category former High Court judge RC Kathuria fits in, who allowed the petition of the animal, the barbarian and the crook, and quashed the charge of abetment to suicide.
Let us also find out the name of the Hon’ble Supreme Court judges who dismissed the appeal against the foolish decision of the High Court and thus allowed the animal to escape the just punishment.
It is an old saying that let heavens fall but justice must be done. Now is the moment to invoke the heaven, break the rules, bend the procedure and catch these crooks lurking in the system from the police station to the Supreme Court and to blacken their faces and do everything else to hound them, to sham them and to punish them.
We the people of India demand that all the above said or anyone who has played a role in miscarriage of justice in Ruchika’s case be punished along with SPS Rathore and be brought to justice. Yours Truly, People of India.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
From Petition Online, "Justice for Ruchika Petition".
As per now (30/12/09, 6:55 PM) there are only 4565 total of signatures for that Justice for Ruchika Petition.
You'd have thought there are millions of them. Considering India is such a huge country with equally numerous population of, uhm, Indians.
Disappointing. The case should have more brought more light to the anger of the public.
INDIAN police have registered new complaints against a former officer who molested a teenage girl and then allegedly harassed her family in a case that has caused widespread outraged.
The case of Ruchika Girhotra, 14 at the time of her assault in 1990, has dominated Indian news over the last few days since 67-year-old S.P.S. Rathore, a former top police officer in the northern state of Haryana, was found guilty.
He was given a six-month jail term and a 1,000 rupee (20 dollar) fine - too lenient and too late, said the family's supporters who have revealed an alleged campaign of intimidation by Rathore to prevent his prosecution. Police in Haryana filed two new 'first information reports' (FIR) late Tuesday against Rathore and other officers for harassing the Girhotra family, the Press Trust of India reported. An FIR is the first step in a police investigation and is a written document prepared after information has been gathered on a suspect.
The new cases, which come after a huge campaign for 'Justice for Ruchika' in the media, allege Rathore pressured police to falsely accuse Ms Girhotra's brother Ashu of theft and tortured him in custody. Ms Girhotra, a budding tennis player, poisoned herself in 1993 at the age of 17, three years after being molested by Rathore. She had been expelled from her school with no explanation soon after the assault.
Ruchika's family says Rathore should be charged with abetting suicide, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison or the death penalty. Since the verdict, allegations have surfaced that police, politicians and bureaucrats shielded Rathore and prevented him from facing punishment, even promoting him to the top police job in the state.
Authorities also stand accused of doctoring Ruchika's autopsy report to show that she died after consuming too many weight loss pills rather than committing suicide. Rathore's wife Abha, who is also his legal counsel, said the facts had been 'fabricated and forged' by the Girhotra family and that her husband was facing a 'trial by the media,' according to PTI.
From Straits Times, "New case against abusive cop".
Riot police in battle gear surrounded the house of former Haryana director general of police S.P.S. Rathore at Chandigarh Thursday evening as people holding candles and placards reached the gate of his house to demand harsher punishment to the official for molesting a teenager in 1990.
The marchers gathered outside his residence gate in Panchkula, a town in Haryana about 10 km from here, shouting slogans like "Justice for Ruchika", eyewitnesses said.
Rathore has been sentenced to six months in jail and a fine of Rs.1,000 for molesting 14-year-old Ruchika Girhotra. She committed suicide three years later, allegedly due to the harassment of her and her family by the official after she filed a complaint about the molestation.
Rathore was immediately granted bail by the court on Monday.
Led by the family members of Anand Prakash, the complainant and family friend of Ruchika, a few hundred people of various age groups gathered under a single umbrella to raise their voice against Rathore.
"This is our way to express support for Ruchika's family. We want justice in this case to set an example for others. We do not want other innocent girls to fall prey before unscrupulous officials like Rathore," said 19-year-old Akanksha Sethi, an engineering student at the candlelight march.
From Hindustan Times, "Protesters reach Rathore's house demanding justice for Ruchika".
A large number of people from different walks of life in Punjab formed a human chain and lighted candles outside Nehru Garden at the initiation of an RTI activist, Advocate Rajendra Bhatia, to raise their voice for justice to Ruchika, who was molested by former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore in 1990 and committed suicide in 1993.
Bhatia on Tuesday said, "corrective measures should be taken to ensure that no high up could make a mockery of law again as Rathore did the Ruchika case".
The RTI activist said an FIR under section 305 (abetting a minor to commit suicide) against Rathore should be registered immediately.
Bhatia further said special courts should be set up across the nation for the speedy trial of criminal cases filed against politicians, bureaucrats and police officials.
A time frame should also be fixed for the early disposal of such cases for restoring faith of the masses in the system, he added.
From Punjab Newsline Network, "Ruchika Molestation Case: Human chain formed to seek justice".
