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Battling for justice for 20 years, the family of Ruchika Girhotra on Tuesday voiced satisfaction over the court enhancing the sentence of her molester and former director general of police SPS Rathore, but said their fight will continue till he is charged with abetment of her suicide.
"We are satisfied as justice has been delivered. But we will continue to fight till he (Rathore) is charged under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code for abetment of suicide," Ruchika's father SC Girhotra said after the verdict was pronounced.
Anand Prakash, father of Ruchika's friend Aradhana Gupta, who had helped the family wage the legal battle, said the verdict proved that even 'powerful' people like Rathore could not escape from the law of the land.
"We are satisfied with the court's order," he said, adding they were ready to continue the fight for justice. "This is a historic decision," Ruchika family lawyer Pankaj Bhardwaj said, adding that the verdict will enhance the common man's trust in the judicial system.
The court's order "is loud and clear for all that nobody is above the law," he said.
"It's a victory for the common man," said Aradhana Gupta, the only witness in the Ruchika molestation case.
"I am so happy about it. I really appreciate the judiciary for putting Rathore behind bars. But I am certainly not very happy because we were expecting two years as the crime was committed by a police official and not by a commoner," Gupta said.
"We should take it as a first step towards justice. The case under Section 306 IPC (abatement to suicide) and other charges against him are yet to come up. Rathore will be punished for whatever crimes he has committed in these years, harassing the Gihrotra family and ruining the career of Ruchika's brother. Certainly that still has to come," she told a news channel.
"We certainly take it as a victory. We have been waiting long for the culprit to be punished," she said.