The family of Ruchika Girhotra, who committed suicide, allegedly after being molested by former Haryana DGP S.P.S. Rathore, has finally given up its fight for justice after a long and tiring legal battle lasting two decades.
The special CBI court, Panchkula, on Friday accepted the closure report submitted by the CBI in two cases — attempt to murder and forgery of documents — filed against S.P.S. Rathore.
Ruchika’s father, S.C. Girhotra, and brother Ashu raised no objection to the closure report. Admitting that he was not in a position to pursue the matter, Mr S.C. Girhotra said, “I do not see any hope now. We feel cheated. My family is vulnerable. The circumstances have pushed us back by 20 years.”
On January 12, 2010 the CBI had registered three fresh FIRs against Rathore after the case was highlighted by the media. The cases were of attempt to murder, abetment to suicide and doctoring of documents. However, in November 2010, the CBI submitted closure reports in two cases, and these were accepted by the court on Friday. “But now, after finding that the system cannot be changed, we decided not to pursue it further,” Mr Girhotra said.
The third case (abetment to suicide) is still pending. The CBI could not file a report as the Punjab and Haryana high court has ordered status quo. In its closure report, the CBI said the allegations levelled by Mr Girhotra and his son Ashu against Rathore were unfounded. The CBI has claimed the allegations could not be substantiated “as per the documentary evidence and oral testimony of witnesses”.