So far, Ruchika Girhotra's friend Aradhana, who stood by her through her turmoil and beyond, has been very vocal about the case. Now, other friends are also coming forward.

There is Gitanjali Murthy who studied in the same class as Ruchika Girhotra, the 14-year-old who was molested 19 years ago by former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore and committed suicide three years later.

Gitanjali describes Ruchika as an "introvert girl, who would never mix with students. But after the incident I recall her as somebody who was very depressed, would cry all through her classes."

Did other classmates know what had happened to her? "We have heard rumours of what had happened with her, heard may be she has been molested, and may be there was more to it than just molestation, but there was never any confirmation on this," says Gitanjali.

Asked if she could describe what exactly happened to Ruchika after the incident, Gitanjali said: "She stopped interacting with anybody in the class; she had just one best friend whom she would confide in, and she would not go out at all during her recess or during the assembly. She would just sit in class and keep crying."

Later, Gitanjali recalls, "she stopped coming to school and nobody knew what happened to her thereafter."

Ruchika's father SC Girhotra has said Rathore, whose daughter too was Ruchika's classmate, used his influence to get his victim expelled from school.