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Ex-Police Chief Is Sent to Jail for Molesting Indian Girl
By HARI KUMAR
Published: May 25, 2010
NEW DELHI Two decades after he molested a teenage girl who later committed suicide, a powerful retired police official was sent to prison on Monday in a case that had come to symbolize the abuse of power rampant in India.
The retired official, Shambhu Pratap Singh Rathore, the former police chief in the state of Haryana, had his bail revoked and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Mr. Rathore had petitioned the court to dismiss his conviction last December, but instead the judges tripled the length of his original six-month conviction.
He is arrested, bail is canceled and he has been sent to jail, said the victims father, S. C. Girotra. Justice has been done. At least the punishment has been enhanced.
Mr. Rathore, who retired in 2002, is convicted of molesting Ruchika Girotra, 14, a tennis player, in 1990. He was chief of the local tennis association and called Ruchika into his office on the pretext of offering her coaching advice but then groped her. Another young girl witnessed the molestation.
From that moment, the case became a blatant example of the ability of powerful officials to use their influence to avoid criminal prosecution. Ruchikas family complained to the police, but officers failed to register the case. Her father and brother were harassed and implicated in trumped-up cases. The pressure on the family became so great that Ruchika killed herself in 1993.
Again and again Mr. Rathore used his influence to scuttle the complaint, even as the female witness and the Girotra family continued to pursue his prosecution. Years passed, with periodic public attention, until a new round of media scrutiny in 2009 and rising public anger created enough pressure for Mr. Rathore to be tried and convicted.
But the six-month sentence last year and the quick approval of Mr. Rathores bail application raised questions about whether he would ever be sent to prison. Mr. Rathore had left the courtroom smiling, an image that stirred the nation and set off an angry debate in the news media over the handling of the case.
Since then, Mr. Girotra, the father, has filed fresh cases, still pending, against Mr. Rathore for abetment of suicide against his daughter, as well as harassment of his son. After Mondays verdict, officers in Haryana whisked their former boss to a jail cell.
Final satisfaction will come when he will be charged under section 306, abetment of suicide, Mr. Girotra said. He is responsible for killing my daughter.
Indian Police Ex-Official Is Jailed 20 Years After Crime - NYTimes.com
By HARI KUMAR
Published: May 25, 2010
NEW DELHI Two decades after he molested a teenage girl who later committed suicide, a powerful retired police official was sent to prison on Monday in a case that had come to symbolize the abuse of power rampant in India.
The retired official, Shambhu Pratap Singh Rathore, the former police chief in the state of Haryana, had his bail revoked and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Mr. Rathore had petitioned the court to dismiss his conviction last December, but instead the judges tripled the length of his original six-month conviction.
He is arrested, bail is canceled and he has been sent to jail, said the victims father, S. C. Girotra. Justice has been done. At least the punishment has been enhanced.
Mr. Rathore, who retired in 2002, is convicted of molesting Ruchika Girotra, 14, a tennis player, in 1990. He was chief of the local tennis association and called Ruchika into his office on the pretext of offering her coaching advice but then groped her. Another young girl witnessed the molestation.
From that moment, the case became a blatant example of the ability of powerful officials to use their influence to avoid criminal prosecution. Ruchikas family complained to the police, but officers failed to register the case. Her father and brother were harassed and implicated in trumped-up cases. The pressure on the family became so great that Ruchika killed herself in 1993.
Again and again Mr. Rathore used his influence to scuttle the complaint, even as the female witness and the Girotra family continued to pursue his prosecution. Years passed, with periodic public attention, until a new round of media scrutiny in 2009 and rising public anger created enough pressure for Mr. Rathore to be tried and convicted.
But the six-month sentence last year and the quick approval of Mr. Rathores bail application raised questions about whether he would ever be sent to prison. Mr. Rathore had left the courtroom smiling, an image that stirred the nation and set off an angry debate in the news media over the handling of the case.
Since then, Mr. Girotra, the father, has filed fresh cases, still pending, against Mr. Rathore for abetment of suicide against his daughter, as well as harassment of his son. After Mondays verdict, officers in Haryana whisked their former boss to a jail cell.
Final satisfaction will come when he will be charged under section 306, abetment of suicide, Mr. Girotra said. He is responsible for killing my daughter.
Indian Police Ex-Official Is Jailed 20 Years After Crime - NYTimes.com
