A sessions court in Chandigarh on Thursday deferred the pronouncement of the verdict on the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case to May 25. Former Haryana director general of police S P S Rathore had earlier been foudn guilty of molesting the teenager 20 years ago. Faced with constant harassment by the state police and authorities, Ruchika had committed suicide three years later.
Rathore was convicted of molesting Ruchika on December 21, 2009, the Central Bureau of Investigation trial court convicted Rathore for molesting Ruchika, but sentenced him to just six months in prison.
Ruchika's family was disappointed with the verdict and moved the court again to increase Rathore's sentence.
The CBI has demanded a two-year sentence for Rathore, while the family wants a life sentence.
The court was initially scheduled to give its verdict on February 8, but the case was postponed after Rathore was stabbed by a student as he walked out of the court.
Meanwhile, Rathore too has filed a plea challenging his conviction in the molestation case.
Apart from this, Rathore has three cases pending against him in the court, all filed by Ruchika's family and friends.
Ruchika's family lawyer Pankaj Bharadwaj had earlier filed two FIRs against Rathore.
The lawyer had claimed that the first FIR was filed for forging documents like the inquest report and the other for illegal detention of Ruchika's brother, Ashu, who was kept in illegal detention and tortured at the behest of Rathore.
The third case is that of abetment to suicide against him. The family has alleged that Ruchika was expelled from Sacred Heart Convent in Chandigarh due to Rathore's influence.
Teenager Ruchika had killed herself three years after the incident by drinking poison.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is investigating whether Rathore drove Ruchika to suicide after she filed molestation charges. An inquiry by the Chandigarh administration has found that Ruchika was unfairly expelled from her school in 1990.
The report also concluded that the expulsion took place under pressure from "an external influence".
The special CBI court had earlier held the former cop guilty under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to six months imprisonment and had imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on him.
Rathore has been stripped off his meritorious police service medal.
Latest India News
