Month later, Rathore registers complaint against attacker

CHANDIGARH - Former Haryana police chief S.P.S. Rathore, convicted of molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra in 1990, has lodged a police complaint against Utsav Sharma, who had attacked him outside the district court complex here Feb 8.

Rathore was stabbed three times in the face by 29-year-old Utsav as he came out of the court premises.

“We have received the complaint from Rathore in which he has demanded that his attacker be booked under Section 307 (attempt to murder),” Jaswinder Singh, station house officer, told IANS Monday.

He added: “Our investigation is on and police are still looking into the complaint and based on various facts and figures we will take appropriate action.”

Surprisingly, police received Rathore’s complaint nearly a month after his attack.

According to police officials, they had not received any complaint from Rathore earlier and had booked Utsav under Section 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

However, Rathore stated in his complaint: “I immediately left the spot for the hospital and told the police that a complaint should be filed by some police official who had nabbed the accused. But it did not happen and the police did not even come to me or to my lawyer to record our statements.”

Utsav belongs to Varanasi and is pursuing film production at Ahmedabad’s National Institute of Design (NID).

Rathore’s counsel, Narayan Dutt Sharma from Jaipur, was also injured in the attack.

As Rathore stepped out of the court complex in Sector 17, Utsav, posing as a freelance journalist, caught him by the neck and in a split second stabbed him three times.

Utsav was immediately arrested by the police but he was released on bail Feb 12.

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court held Rathore guilty in December last year for molesting 15-year-old Ruchika in Panchkula town in August 1990. She committed suicide three years later.

He was sentenced to six months rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs.1,000 in the 19-year-old molestation case. Rathore was granted bail immediately after his conviction.

Taking cognizance of the attack on Rathore and his counsel, the court adjourned the case till March 10.

The case will now be heard March 10-12.