Rathore refuses to file complaint against attacker

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Having failed to get a formal complaint from Rathore or his lawyer, the Chandigarh police have booked Utsav under Sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

While Section 324 was imposed against Utsav Monday evening, Section 506 was added Tuesday. Utsav was produced before a local court here which remanded him to one day police custody.

The case was registered at the Sector 17 police station Monday on the basis of a complaint from a police constable who was present near Rathore when the attack with a sharp-edged pocket knife took place.

"We tried to get a complaint from him (Rathore) but he refused to file a complaint against the accused. So we took the complaint from a policeman who was present there," Deputy Superintendent of Police Jagbir Singh said Tuesday.

Rathore's counsel, Narayan Dutt Sharma from Jaipur, was also injured in the attack and was admitted to hospital. Even he did not file a complaint.

Rathore was attacked on the neck and face by Utsav as he came out of a hearing of his appeal against his conviction in the 19-year-old Ruchika Girhotra molestation case.

Police officials accompanying the former Haryana director general of police (DGP) nabbed the 29-year-old attacker, Utsav Sharma, who belongs to Varanasi and is pursuing film production at the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad.

Senior Superintendent of Police S.S. Srivastava told IANS that the young man "seemed to be mentally unstable" and was living in nearby Panchkula town for about a month.

"There does not seem to be any motive behind the attack. He seemed angry and got a feeling that justice has not been done to this girl (Ruchika) and he carried out the attack under psychological imbalance," Srivastava added.

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court held Rathore guilty in December last year for molesting 15-year-old Ruchika in Panchkula town in August 1990. She committed suicide three years later.

He was sentenced to six months' rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs.1,000 in the 19-year-old molestation case of teenager Ruchika Girhotra. Rathore was granted bail immediately after his conviction.

The district and sessions court is hearing Rathore's appeal against his conviction and the CBI plea seeking enhancement of his punishment from six months to two years.