New Delhi: Government sources have told CNN-IBN that the CBI has been asked to appeal against the sentence of former Haryana DGP, SP Singh Rathore in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case.
The CBI is likely to push for maximum punishment against Rathore. Under the present law, the maximum punishment that Rathore can get is two years in prison.
The Haryana High Court has sentenced Rathore - accused of molesting and allegedly abetted Ruchika's suicide - to six months in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on him.
Fourteen-year-old Ruchika, a budding tennis player, was molested in 1990 by Rathore, the then inspector general of police. She committed suicide three years later by consuming poison.
On Thursday, civil society activists got together to seek re-trial and demanded reforms in the law in terms of child sex abuse.
"He (Rathore) came out smiling after the court verdict. There was that smug on his face that set our blood boiling. He took pride in the contempt of the system. It was inhuman," said Kanan Jaiswal, a 60-year-old activist at the candlelight vigil held in New Delhi.
Ruchika's friend and the lone witness in the case, Aradhana Gupta, said the six-month sentence awarded after 19 years of trial was no punishment at all and that there was a need to make reforms in the judicial and political setup.
"The existing political and judicial machinery is not enough to make the country safer for women. There is a need to change. Every small girl needs to be protected," she said.
Recalling her association with Ruchika and the trial, Gupta said she regretted not being able to save her friend's life.
"There was a feeling of helplessness that I couldn't prevent her from committing suicide. I was 13 at that time and I thought that I would not be able to put up a fight but my parents supported me and were very protective," she said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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