It is so heartening to see such a massive public outcry and
media coverage opposing the animalistic acts that took place in Guwahati
recently. In what seems to be a moment of pride for the media, something that
has given the people of India another reason to believe, I’d like to remind you
all, especially those belonging to the fairer sex, about an incident that
happened in 1990. An incident that involved a 14-year-old named Ruchika.
Ruchika Girhotra committed the grievous crime of allowing
herself to be molested by a respected gentleman who happened to be an inspector
general, whose name I shall not reveal, for it shall bring great amount of shame
and disrepute to a man who has relentlessly served our country throughout his
illustrious career.
We live in a country that believes in Karma and providence.
The rest of the story justifies this belief.
The gentleman in question was the president of the Haryana
lawn tennis association when Ruchika committed the heinous crime. Prior to the
incident, the gentleman was popularly known as the policeman who happily played
tennis on a clay court that was built on an encroached government land.
The gentleman was known for having an observant eye that
effortlessly recognised talent and hand-picked Ruchika, a promising tennis
player, for special practice. In connection with this, he asked Ruchika to meet
him in his office. There he casually molested her. The extremely disobedient
Ruchika made a big hue-and-cry of the small issue and complained to her parents
about it. It is blasphemous to report any form of molestation in India, to
anyone including your parents. Our scriptures are full of stories that
highlight the consequences of blasphemy. Poor Ruchika probably didn’t read them
properly and hence had to pay the price, quite rightly at that, for having
committed the unpardonable crimes of 1. Allowing herself to be molested. 2.
Reporting the same to her parents.
The parents, like fools, tried to drum up support and
question the powerful gentleman in question. The gentleman then realized that
it was high time that he swung into action and did something about the
egregiousness on display. He called friends and well-wishers from his caste and
intelligently coupled the sheer weight of their populated presence with that of
the power oozing from the chambers of political muscle he had access to. The
assembled group that had divine intentions and the backing of ex-MLA J S Tikka,
protested democratically by raising slogans in front of Ruchika’s house.
All good men enjoy the support and blessings of the higher
authorities. The gentleman in our story was no exception. He seemed to enjoy
the unanimous support of all MPs, MLAs and CMs from his state, regardless of
the party ruling it.
Lesser mortals don’t deserve education. The “Sacred heart
school for girls,” Chandigarh, which has sacrosanct milk overflowing from its
apposite name, realized the truth behind the preceding statement and
immediately expelled Ruchika. Some bastards tried to prohibit the school
authorities from doing the right thing. Unfortunately, the school authorities
had to incorrectly accuse Ruchika of not paying the fees and expel her. The
immoral acts of a few miscreants sometimes lead to revered institutions having
to stoop down to levels not down to them to restore justice. This was one such
event.
After her dismissal, Ruchika confined herself to the
comforts and company of the four walls surrounding her in her room. She
unjustly protected herself from being followed and abused by our gentleman’s
henchmen. But the gentleman’s saviours and the guarding angels of divine
justice on this holy land realized that Ruchika’s father and brother were also
partially responsible for Ruchika growing up to be the vamp that she is( ‘was’
actually, but let me finish this part first).
So they framed false cases against Ruchika’s father and
brother. Five cases of theft were filed against Ashu, Ruchika’s 10-year-old
brother. Ashu was also subjected to continual physical torture. His feet were
tied with a weight. A roller was rolled on his legs and thighs. While still in
illegal confinement, Ashu was taken to his house and beaten mercilessly in
front of Ruchika by the gentleman. Ashu was paraded in handcuffs in his
neighbourhood to elucidate the evils of messing with a reputed gentleman to the
commons. The benevolent gentleman took mercy on the little boy by not acting
according to the garudapurana which
demanded tossing the boy into boiling oil.
The gentleman however kept Ashu in confinement until an act
of cowardice on Ruchika’s part unfortunately necessitated Ashu’s release.
Ruchika committed suicide by consuming poison. Men of justice rarely get a
reason to rejoice and celebrate. The gentlemen finally got his. He threw a
party to celebrate the occasion!
The witnesses and people who sympathised with Ruchika got
what they deserved. Aradhana, Ruchika’s friend was threatened so much that she
married and fled to Australia. Attention seeking lawyers who offered to take up
the case for free were filed under some case or the other immediately. The
witnessed were accused of being Ashu’s accomplices and filed. Ruchika’s dad, a
bank manager, was accused of corruption and rightfully forced into a job he
deserved to do for a living: Earth filling.
Justice finally prevailed after sometime. The gentleman,
after all the embarrassment, was promoted to the post of an additional DGP and
was later nominated for a presidential honour. Most importantly, the case was
dropped and it was party time again.
Loud talking media-heads, CBI enquiries, adjourned verdicts,
16 prosecution witnesses, parliament debates, one suicide and 19 years later,
the gentlemen was grilled. He was promptly sentenced to 6 months of rigorous
imprisonment and was slapped with a fine of a monumental Rs.1000. Thankfully
and predictably, justice prevailed. He was seen chewing paan outside the court, 10 minutes after the judgement. He had
received a bail from the judge, who had got into a property feud with the
Girhotras in the 80S.
The gentleman lived happily ever after.
So my dear sisters, never mess with an influential
gentleman. For all the badass girls who could have been in Ruchika’ position
that are reading this, remember that nobody will help you, neither the media,
nor the judiciary, if and when you mess up with a gentleman. The media
especially will talk about you and make you famous. They’ll glorify your
existence by repeatedly telecasting videos of you getting molested by
gentlemen. Truth alone triumphs; the gentlemen from Guwahati will get away too.
There have been
instances in history when evil elements like Ruchika have succeeded. It has
been when they haven’t had to depend on anyone, especially other men. It has
been when they have turned to lethal weapons like the pen knife or the pepper
spray. Gentlemen are wary of the independent, brave women; they are considered
to be the embodiment of all evil.
For those wondering about the gentleman’s name, he’s called thevediya paya here in Tamil Nadu. I
don’t know how the rest of India calls him.
