Cop Convicted Of Molesting 14 YO Honoured At Haryana Republic Day, Victim’s Family Shocked

After numerous tragic and heart-wrenching cases of crimes against women where innocent women and girls have been victimized by predators and stripped of their dignity, our society still hasn’t learned to shun such people from our midst. Why do I sound so cynical, you ask? Because such a convicted predator was honoured at the recent Republic Day event in Haryana.

Former Haryana Director General of Police SPS Rathore was found guilty of molesting 14-year-old Ruchika Girhotra. The incident occurred on August 12, 1990, at Rathore’s home office in Panchkula. The Chandigarh teenager along with another friend reported the incident to the police.

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Three years after the incident, the victim committed suicide due to alleged harassment by the police over the proceedings of the case.

19 years after the case in 2009, a special CBI court found him guilty of the horrendous crime and his conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2016. But looks like the Haryana Government has absolutely forgotten about the conviction.

As reported by Times of India, Rathore was a guest at the Republic day function and shared the stage with government officials and other dignitaries. He was seated near the Superintendent on the front row, in the district level parade and even took the guard of honour.

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The victim’s friends and family were shell-shocked at the honour bestowed on the convicted man. A member of the victim’s family said,

“It is shameful and disgraceful that Haryana government felt the need to express solidarity with such molesters. We have no words to describe how we feel. We still can’t believe the Haryana administration did this.”

The government crossed all levels of hypocrisy when it also honoured the late Anand Prakash, who fought the legal battle against Rathore for 26 years. Prakash passed away on January 12.

The late victim’s friend also condemned the stance taken by the Haryana Government and told Hindustan Times,

“He (Rathore) must have been invited to the function. It is shameless on the part of the local administration. By endorsing such criminals, who have been convicted by the Supreme Court, the administration is directly encouraging such crimes.”

While the entire administration has remained tight-lipped about the incident, a senior official has quoted the invitation as a mistake.

It is absolutely shameful that a state administration committed such a grave ‘mistake’ and invited a convicted criminal. Honouring somebody who was instrumental in the suicide of a 14-year-old is a crime in itself, and the passage of time does not make it okay.

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