It is indeed surprising to see officials and some Ministers suggesting that they will re-open or re-examine the case against the former Haryana DGP, S.P.S. Rathore, — sentenced to six months in prison for molesting a 14-year-old girl 19 years ago — on the basis of media outburst. It is a matter of regret that the media act as prosecutors, witnesses, judges and what not. The law must be allowed to follow its course. There are well laid down legal procedures for appealing against a sentence.
Were the media sleeping when some charges against Rathore were dropped? He has received the punishment that is due to him for the offence he was charged with.
Major Atul Dev (retd.),
Gurgaon
It was a signal failure of civil society that Rathore was not stopped in his tracks when he went about abusing his position to torture the young girl, driving her to suicide. The 14-year-old was not helped to survive the trauma of being molested and her brother being subjected to harassment. Perhaps, timely counselling would have saved her. By its outcry over the lenient sentencing of Rathore, society cannot rid itself of its indirect guilt of doing nothing to save a precious life.
Thanks to the public and media pressure, the law is catching up with Rathore. The saddest thing is there may be many similar cases which do not see the light of day.
G. David Milton,
Maruthancode
The case of Rathore and reports of similar cases involving high officials from different States reflect the state of affairs in our country — official apathy and the attitude of the justice system towards the rich and influential. It is time to remind the hierarchy not to ruin the fabric of democracy. One hopes the assurance given by the Chief Minister of Haryana that the culprit will be punished will be not be in vain.
R. Gopinathan,
Thiruvananthapuram
