this is the very sad story or ruchika girotra

her name could easily have been sally or bat-tziyon or maria or bolanile or Раиса

whatever. it doesn't matter what her name is. it matters this happens EVERYWHERE. it matters blame is placed on victims (and in many cases just like this one, their families). it is caused by poor people and rich people. it is as i said EVERYWHERE

now ruchika has a little bit of justice. not enough mind you, but the tides are turning. each and every one of us must NOT let this happen here or anywhere

Abuse Case Rouses India’s Middle Class

By LYDIA POLGREEN

PANCHKULA, India — She was a gifted 14-year-old tennis player who idolized Steffi Graf and hoped to turn pro. He was a senior police official and president of the state lawn tennis club. He lured her to his office with a promise of special coaching that could make her tennis dreams come true, then groped her.

This encounter set in motion a saga that has taken almost 20 years to unfold. The family of the girl, Ruchika Girotra, threatened to press charges. Shambhu Pratap Singh Rathore, a senior officer in the Haryana State Police, then waged a campaign of harassment and intimidation against Ruchika so severe that she eventually committed suicide. Her brother, Ashu, was falsely accused of stealing cars, and said he had been beaten and tortured in custody.

All the while Mr. Rathore, a flamboyant, mustachioed presence with deep ties to many of the state’s top politicians, rose through the ranks, retiring in 2002 as a state police chief.

Ruchika Girotra’s ordeal is hardly unique. Girls are molested all the time in India; powerful officials often abuse their office to avoid criminal prosecution; sclerotic courts are painfully slow and often corrupt.............

picture:

Keith Bedford for The New York Times

S. C. Girotra, whose daughter, Ruchika Girotra, pictured, was molested by a police official and later committed suicide.