Ruchika case hearing adjourned till April 15

Chandigarh, Mar 10 (ANI): A Chandigarh court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case, which involves former Haryana Director General of Police (DGP) SPS Rathore till April 15 on the plea that his lawyer was still recovering from an assault on him last month.

Rathore arrived in the court accompanied by his lawyer-wife Abha Rathore and a Haryana cop. Abha Rathore told the court that Rathore's counsel N D Sharma was still recovering from the assault on him outside the court premises last month.

Rathore was on February 8 punched and stabbed thrice with a blunt instrument outside the court premises by Utsav Sharma, a student of the prestigious National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad. The former DGP's lawyer had also sustained injuries in the attack and both had to be hospitalised.

The court had last month passed the adjournment order on medical grounds.

The former cop has been charged for allegedly molesting 14-year old teenager Ruchika Girhotra, a budding tennis star in 1990s.

Rathore has three cases pending against him in the court; all filed by Ruchika's family and friends.

Ruchika's family lawyer Pankaj Bharadwaj had earlier filed two FIRs against Rathore.

The lawyer had claimed that the first FIR was filed for forging documents like the inquest report and the other for illegal detention of Ruchika's brother, Ashu, who was kept in illegal detention at the behest of Rathore and given tortures.

The third case is that of abetment to suicide against him. The family has claimed that Ruchika was expelled from Sacred Heart Convent in Chandigarh due to Rathore's influence.

Teenager Ruchika had killed herself three years after the incident by drinking poison. (ANI)