How could a senior policeman be asked to serve just six months in prison for molesting a teenager? As national outrage builds in the Ruchika Girhotra case, an expert panel of lawyers will try to figure out what went horribly wrong.
SPS Rathore, who retired as Haryana's top police officer, the Director General of Police, in 2002, was found guilty of molesting 14-year-old Ruchika in 1990. Three years later, Ruchika committed suicide. Earlier this week, Rathore was sentenced to six months in prison, and then granted bail immediately.
The National Commission of Women has announced that a panel will look into the loopholes that led to this mild sentence, one that many have attacked as a travesty of justice. The panel will submit its report in two months.
Among the many concerns: Why was Rathore not charged with a more serious offense like abetment of suicide amounting to murder? The CBI, which handled the case, says it's tough to link Rathore to Ruchika's death because she committed suicide three years after being molested by the policeman.
However, its own chargesheet against Rathore explains that the teenager suffered depression and committed suicide because of her sexual abuse.
The court's verdict attributes its light sentence to Rathore's age and to the lengthy trial - it lasted nine years and was transferred between three courts. The CBI blames Rathore for using technicalities to stretch out the trial.
NCW chairperson Girija Vyas said the commission was also looking at filing an appeal against the verdict in the Ruchika case. And that it had already taken up the matter with the Haryana Chief Minister.
The panel had also raised the issue of a proposed bill on sexual assault at work places with the Home Minister, she said.
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