Chandigarh:
Has the CBI neglected basic facts in closing the case against SPS Rathore, the former Haryana top cop, accused in the molestation and suicide of the teenager Ruchika Girhotra? Despite the CBI's assertion that the Ruchika's brother Ashu's case was closed for want of what it calls credible evidence, a key eyewitness Vijay Dheer, says he deposed before the CBI nine months ago, describing how days before Ruchika committed suicide, Ashu was paraded bare feet and half naked.
"Ashu Girhotra was paraded in our lane, from the market to the house. He was just in his underwear. He was beaten up and hand-cuffed. The police does not treat even professional criminals the way he was treated. He was beaten up just outside the house gate. When Ruchika saw this, she was broken," said Vijay Dheer, Girhotra's neighbour.
While the neighbours of Ruchika Girhotra's family say, they can't forget the day, the shocking CBI report on the incident reads: "Shopkeepers of Panchkula neither heard nor saw Ashu being paraded by the police half-naked."
This is a fact emerging out of the closure report, the CBI filed a month ago, in two crucial cases against former Director General of Police of Haryana SPS Rathore. NDTV now has a copy of the report.
"They should bring on record the statement of all witnesses. I am very disappointed with the CBI," said SC Girhotra, Ruchika Girhotra's father.
The family says, the CBI has let them down time and again.
In 1998, it took over the molestation investigation against Rathore. After 10 years, all the agency could get Rathore was six months in prison
Following huge protests, in January 2010, the CBI again took up investigation into three new charges:
- Rathore abetted Ruchika's suicide
- Rathore attempted to murder her brother Ashu, subjecting him to torture, and framing him in a false case
- Rathore tampered with the police report filed after Ruchika's death
Now, after a year of investigation, it has closed the first two cases.
Ruchika committed suicide, within days of her brother Ashu being subjected to torture, but the CBI does not seem to have taken into account any crucial eyewitness account. For a year now, the allegation has been that the CBI has been soft on Rathore. Now there is evidence, that the agency overlooked crucial facts that could have nailed Rathore.