New Delhi: The Sacred Heart Convent School in Chandigarh expelled molestation victim Ruchika Girhorta arbitrarily and “non-payment” of fees was just an excuse, says an official investigation.
Ruchika, a Class 10 student, was expelled from the girls' school for unexplained reasons just a month after she was molested by former Haryana director general of police (DGP) S P S Rathore on August 12, 1990. She committed suicide three years later, allegedly due to harassment of her and her family.
Rathore's daughter was Ruchika's classmate in the same school and a recent complaint to the police has said the former police officer got Ruchika expelled to save his own daughter from embarrassment.
“There has not been a single expulsion of a student from the school due to non payment of fees,” said Ram Niwas, home-cum-education secretary of Chandigarh, at a press conference on Thursday.
“In the last of 20 years nobody has been sacked (from the school)” for non payment of fees,” he said. "The school acted in a biased and arbitrarily manner."
On December 29 last year, after Rathore's sentence of six months in prison following his conviction sparked an outrage, Niwas had ordered a magisterial inquiry into the role of the school management in the expulsion of Ruchika.
"The SDM (Sub Divisional Magistrate) has submitted the inquiry report to us and we are going to deliver it to Union Territory administrator S F Rodrigues for his consideration," said Niwas.
The SDM report says there is a strong possibility of the expulsion being carried out by the school under Rathore's influence.
(With inputs from IANS, CNN-IBN Correspondents and PTI. )
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