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Tuesday 29 December 2009

Who Else Betrayed You, Ruchika?

I'm supposed to write the next post in my series , Part Three of  "Who Else Am I Not"?


However, I cannot.  I'm distracted, angry, alarmed, and nauseated all the same time.


The reason is not some blogger's block, but a fourteen year old girl called Ruchika Girhotra.


Ruchika Girhotra was molested one fateful day in Chandigarh, in 1990, by DGP S P S Rathore, betrayed by someone she trusted.


That wasn't the last day she was betrayed, however.


Ever since the news of the trial made headlines, she has been and is being betrayed every single day.




Right after an experience that would send into shock even a grown and mature woman, Ruchika dried her tears and agreed, with her friend's help, to file a complaint.


She loved herself enough to demand that she needed justice and the wrong doer punished.


Little did she know that this was just the beginning of a long series of betrayals.




The most serious betrayal was by the media, which instead of calling it the "Molester DGP S P S Rathore" case, perversely, called it the "Ruchika Molestation Case", and continues to do so till date.


The traumatised girl was compelled to give up her life so her family could live in peace, but it seems her sacrifice was in vain.


The focus has been and still is on her father, her brother and her brother's family. While the media coverage will help their case, why isn't there negative publicity yet, for the Rathore family?


Does anyone know who the family members of the Molester DGP S P S Rathore are ?


How many children he has?


Whether they are afraid now or have ever felt afraid?


What do they think of their father's act?


The second betrayal was by Ruchika's school, the Sacred Heart Convent School in Sector 26, Chandigarh.


Does a school have any right to call itself a school, leave alone"Sacred", after betraying the trust of its own pupil?


Time was when schools and its staff were responsible for shaping the character of its students by setting personal examples. Today, one moral science period included in the daily time table, and they feel their job is done.


Can it ever hope to instill courage into its students, after itself failing to stand up to the pressure of molesters and goons?


This is the time to set right the wrong decision of the past, by admitting to it and openly supporting Anand Prakash and his family.


Does Sacred Heart Convent have the courage and the "Heart"?


The third group of betrayers are the entire administration involved in passing the buck now that the shit has hit the fan.


Was this a case where technicalities mattered? Did the administration have to tie itself in knots of  red tape in not being able to file an FIR due to some flimsy reason?


"Show me the face and I'll show you the rule." is a very apt saying, specially applicable for just these kind of 'government servants'.


One more thing is bothering me.


The silence from one quarter is almost deafening. Molestation is not only physical contact, but a betrayal of trust by a grown up, with a gesture or even a look, that gives the molested a sudden and terrifying glimpse of the animal within a seemingly ordinary human being.


How many women, or for that matter men, encountered the same , when they were children?


Many more I'm sure, than are admitting and joining in this fight.


Is this case destined to be yet another qualifier for a candle light vigil, and nothing more than that?


Don't you think the Girhotra family needs more true friends like of the family of her freind, the Anands, who doggedly pursued the matter, for who knows, it could have been their daughter instead of Ruchika that day.


Think readers, it could have been, or could be, our daughters, sons, grandchildren, we ourselves....


So, join in in any way that you think you can, but do not be indifferent...


Let us not betray Ruchika, yet again......

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