Abha. (PTI)

Chandigarh/New Delhi, Dec. 30: A “very nice” woman is standing like a rock behind one of India’s most disgraced men, earning sympathy from some and sniggers from others.

Even many of those gunning for a retrial and harsher punishment of former Haryana police chief S.P.S. Rathore have only praise for his wife Abha, a lawyer in her 60s who has been fighting her husband’s case throughout.

“She is not only a good lawyer but also a very good human being. As her husband’s lawyer, she is stuck in an unenviable position,” said her colleague Ranjan Lakhanpal, who has filed a petition seeking re-investigation in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case.

Former Haryana director-general of police (DGP) R.R. Singh, who had recommended action against Rathore for molesting Ruchika, said: “All I knew about her (Abha) then, as well as now, is that she is a very nice person.”

Abha’s colleagues in Punjab and Haryana High Court said she encouraged juniors and made it a point to congratulate any lawyer who had argued a case well. Junior lawyers regularly approach her for advice on cases.

Although lawyers see nothing wrong in Abha defending her husband, some women’s rights activists criticised her.

“Being educated and well read, she should have been the first to protest against her husband’s wrongdoings. In our society, the problem is that wives rarely take a stand against their husbands however independent and educated they might be,” said Raj Mangal Prasad of Pratidhi, which works with child rape victims.

“She (Abha) helped Rathore exploit the loopholes in the law. That’s unpardonable — in a way she helped him get away. She deserves no sympathy however great a lawyer she is,” said Rakesh Saingar of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan.

If Singh, the former DGP, is to be believed, Abha may be a long-suffering wife. “When Rathore was posted in the police headquarters in Panchkula, lady stenos never wanted to work for him. They would plead not to be posted in his department,” Singh said.

The Rathores’ son and daughter too are lawyers. The son practises in Mumbai but the daughter, a Delhi resident, is believed not to be practising now.

Phoned, Abha politely said she was not making any statements. “Thank you for your thoughts,” she said.

She was the picture of grace today even as Rathore, 67, snapped at the media outside the couple’s home after a Panchkula court denied him immediate relief on his anticipatory bail plea.

Abha, however, told the journalists to relax. “We are not running away. Click as many pictures you want. Don’t get excited,” she said even as Rathore slammed the iron gates shut.

Earlier, in the district and sessions court, she had fought hard, asking that her husband be protected from a “media trial”.

“If four people shout about something which is wrong, it will not become a right. If four people describe a donkey as a horse, it will not become a horse,” Abha said.

“All this is being done due to media pressure and media hype. Mob rule is having its day,” Abha told the court. “The media want to harass and humiliate my family. Editors are trying to portray themselves as moralistic.”

But the judge declined to rule on the bail plea because not all the required documents had been submitted, and posted the next hearing for Friday.

The Girhotra family met Union home minister P. Chidambaram with their lawyer in Delhi today and said he had assured them that “action will be taken”.