Prakash family hails withdrawal of Rathore’s medal

PANCHKULA - Anand Prakash, who has been fighting the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case for the past 19 years, hailed the union home ministry’s decision Monday to strip tainted cop S.P.S. Rathore of the police medal he was given for meritorious service in 1985.

“This is very encouraging for us and now we are more confident than before,” he said.

“We all welcome this decision of the central government. With this development, we are quite hopeful that this case will soon reach a logical end,” Madhu Prakash, his wife, said.

“Now we want the reopening of the case and the court should charge Rathore under section 306 (abetment to suicide) (of the Indian Penal Code). The trial should be held in some fast-track court to ensure justice.”

Ruchika’s friend, Aradhana, who was the lone eyewitness in this case, said: “Stripping of medals would certainly teach a hard lesson to Rathore. We all are very happy and strongly support this move. This would also act as a deterrent for other senior officials and would stop them from indulging in such things.”

Rathore, a former Haryana director general of police (DGP), was held guilty of molesting 15-year-old Ruchika in Panchkula town Aug 12, 1990 by a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Chandigarh Dec 21. He was sentenced to a six-month prison term but immediately granted bail.

The budding tennis player had committed suicide three years after the incident.

The former police chief, who was given a show-cause notice last week by the home ministry, was awarded the medal Aug 15, 1985.