Ruchika’s family gives up fight,witness’ father says he won’t

However,speaking to reporters in Panchkula,Anand Prakash,a family friend of the Girhotras,who had spearheaded the fight to get justice for Ruchika,said the victim’s father told him that they were “disappointed” over CBI filing the closure report.

“Girhotra told me that he wants to lead a peaceful life now and cannot continue fighting the system endlessly. He said that since the CBI has not found anything incriminating against Rathore,it will be a fruitless exercise to pursue the case,” Prakash said,adding that “it seems that Girhotras were under pressure from someone.”

Girhotra could not be contacted for his comments,with his family saying he was out of station.

Prakash,whose daughter Aradhna was an eyewitness in the molestation incident,said that he would move the high court against the CBI’s closure reports.

“I have taken legal opinion and decided to move the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the closure reports filed by the CBI. My daughter was the witness in the molestation incident and my wife later fought the case all these years. We are not going to give up,” Prakash said.

Claiming that they have got “sufficient evidence”,Prakash said that his family was in every way “connected” with the Ruchika case.

Earlier,Ruchika’s brother Ashu had alleged that a false case of auto theft was registered against him after the molestation incident at the behest of Rathore,who was then a IG rank officer,and the Haryana police had tortured him. However,the CBI in its report had maintained that there was no evidence to back the charge.

Teenager Ruchika,who was a budding tennis player,had committed suicide three years after the molestation incident in August 1990. S C Girhotra had in his complaint alleged that his signatures were taken on blank papers during the postmortem proceedings of Ruchika,who committed suicide in December 1993.

Girhotra had earlier said that his daughter’s name was intentionally changed to Ruby and his name mentioned from SC Girhotra to his full name Subhash Chand,apparently to cover up the matter.

The closure report mentioned that during inquest proceedings after Ruchika’s suicide,S C Girhotra had himself disclosed his name as Subhash Chand and that of his daughter as Ruby.

69-year-old Rathore is currently out on bail after spending around six months in jail serving a sentence of 18 months in the main case relating to the molestation charge. He has appealed against the sentence.