Aradhana,father spurn Bitta honour bid

Bitta,who visited Aradhanas house in the morning,wanted to honour her father and her for the strength shown by them in fighting for justice for Ruchika Girhotra for 19 years. He was accompanied by Rukhsana,the girl from Rajouri who had gunned down a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant.

Aradhana said they still had a long battle to fight against the former DGP,and refused to be part of the honouring business. She appealed that the case not be trivialised. We have not hung up our boots yet as Rathore needs to be punished for the atrocities he let loose on Ashu Ruchikas brother and the entire family. Since he was the one who drove Ruchika to take such an extreme step of suicide,he should not go scot free and deserves a stricter sentence, she said.

Her father Anand Prakash backed her,also declining the honour till the case reached a logical conclusion. This is just the tip of the iceberg. We would bring out the way Rathore ruined the Girhtora family. That would be our real victory, he said.

Bitta,for his part,blamed the Intelligence Bureau for not providing relevant facts and expressed regret at not having been associated with the case.

To garner as much public support as possible for her fight,Aradhana has opened an e-mail id,joinaradhana4ruchika gmail.com,inviting people to send in their views and comments.

She hoped this would help sustain the campaign for justice on a larger scale.

Tuesday being the 16th death anniversary of Ruchika,Aradhana will also hold a peace march starting from her house at 11 am.