Following are excerpts from Ruchika Girhotra's brother Ashu's FIR that was lodged with Panchkula police, 19 years after the incident on Tuesday night under pressure from media and government:
“I was given third degree torture and Rathore told me, ‘Ab bula apni behen ko (Now call your sister)'. Rathore used obscene and filthy language against my sister and my father. I was told that if I cared for my life, I should tell me sister to withdraw the complaint...Rathore ordered the police officials to keep on beating me
“I kept on crying in pain and when I asked for water, the police officer...urinated in a glass and asked me to drink it...I fell unconscious and got up in the morning
“On Diwali day, I was brought out of the police post, handcuffed, and paraded half-naked in the lane I was living in...My father and sister were abused by cops and they were also asked to come out. I could not see my sister, but I could hear her crying
Excerpts from Ruchika's father Subash Girhotra's FIR filed 19 years after Ruchika's suicide in Panchkula on Tuesday night:
“He (Rathore) had deployed 6 to 7 persons in plainclothes outside my house...On Dec 28, 1993, I noticed my daughter in an unconscious condition...these people...immediately informed Rathore and I was asked to immediately take her to PGI, Chandigarh. When I told these people that I will take her to a nearby hospital, i.e. Command Hospital, they threatened to kill me and my son
“She died the next day... Sub-inspector of Panchkula Sector 6 police station refused to hand over the dead body of Ruchika to me. He told me that nothing could be done without the directions coming from Rathore. I told him to make me meet Rathore and begged him to hand over the body of my daughter
“On Dec 30, I was crying helplessly and touched the feet of the ASI to kindly hand over the body...with folded hands (I) requested him to have mercy on me as I had already lost my daughter and my son was in custody...He told me to shut up otherwise my son would also be eliminated It's trial by media, Rathore tells court
“The accused in most high-profile cases usually project themselves as hapless victims of the media. On Wednesday, S P S Rathore took the same tack when he told the court that he was being subjected to trial by media. While arguing in the court, Abha Rathore, wife and counsel of the accused, said it was because of the media that the FIRs were filed. She accused the media of tarnishing her husband's image and said he has become a victim of a witch-hunt”.
The above excerpts were reported in The Times of India on Thursday.
