India has decided that teenager Ruchika's tormentor ex-DGP SPS Rathore will not have the last laugh.
The government's top ministers are now directly overseeing the case. They are monitoring and advising at every step so that Rathore is aptly punished for molesting his daughter's classmate.
Law Minister Veerappa Moily has told NDTV that the Centre is quickly processing the sexual offences act so that no other girl suffers like Ruchika Girhotra did.
"In the long run, we would like to see rigorous law is enforced particularly on sexual offence committed by people. We are contemplating laws like sexual offences special course act. It can fast track within six months or one year. This is what we are trying to do," he said.
The new law will ensure that cases like Ruchika's are tried within six months and could be introduced as early as the budget session of Parliament.
Among other provisions planned are that the police can start acting on a complaint without a first information report (FIR) and can arrest without a warrant. The new law would not allow anticipatory bail for the accused and would ensure that the government appoints a special public prosecutor, not just any lawyer.
The Law Minister had earlier said he would like to charge the cop who molested Ruchika Girhotra with abetment of a minor's suicide. If SPS Rathore does indeed face those charges, and is found guilty, he could face the death penalty. (
Watch: Ruchika case: Law Minister wants tougher charges)
Ruchika was 14 when she was molested in 1990; she killed herself in 1993 when she was 18.
