Rathore’s pension stopped, Ruchika’s family hails move
By IANSWednesday, June 30, 2010
NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH - Disgraced former Haryana police chief S.P.S. Rathore, in jail for molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra in 1990, will get no pension from the government, the home ministry said Wednesday.
“Pension of S.P.S. Rathore, a retired IPS officer of the 1965 batch, has been withheld in full on permanent basis,” a home ministry statement said.
The action was taken following his “conviction in the molestation case of Ruchika, a minor girl”, it added.
In Chandigarh, Ruchika’s family hailed the central government’s decision.
“This is the right decision by the government. We cannot have a situation where a criminal, who has been convicted and is in jail, continues to enjoy pension also,” Ruchika’s father S.C. Girhotra said.
The ministry had earlier sent a notice to Rathore asking him why his pension should not be stopped after the 68-year-old retired police officer, who has so far spent over a month in the high security Burail jail, was sentenced to 18 months in prison in the molestation case.
Rathore was convicted of molesting 14-year-old Ruchika Girhotra, a classmate of his daughter, 20 years ago.
Ruchika, a budding tennis player, committed suicide three years after being molested. A Chandigarh court May 25 enhanced Rathore’s jail term from six months to one-and-a-half years.
