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Behind every successful man, there is a woman; and behind every celeb charged with a sex offence, there appears to be a woman defending him, reports Monica Sharma.
Behind every successful man, there is a woman; and behind every celeb charged with a sex offence, there appears to be a woman defending him.
Abha Rathore, wife of former Haryana director general of police SPS Rathore, has not only stood by her husband but also fought for him in court through the 19 years the Ruchika molestation case dragged on.
Her stoic silence when the judgment was pronounced against her husband on Monday for molesting a girl young enough to be their daughter spoke volumes of her predicament.
Soon after the judge held Rathore guilty and sentenced him to six months in jail, the couple walked out of the court into media frenzy, Rathore with a grin and Abha looking grim.
“I must thank my lovely wife for standing by me all through the legal battle,” Rathore boasted, ducking media queries on his next course of action.
An erudite lawyer tipped to be a Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, Abha’s career took a hit after the Ruchika molestation scandal surfaced in 1990.
In the high court, Abha ended up defending her husband’s cases.
Abha is just one of four recent cases where wives have stood by their high-profile husbands booked for sex crimes.
If actor Shiney Ahuja’s wife cried hoarse over her husband’s implication in a rape case in June, former Punjab legislator Gaganjit Singh Barnala’s wife Harpreet didn’t leave his side when he was accused of raping his domestic help.
Former Haryana inspector general of police Ravi Kant Sharma’s better half, Madhu, braved public ire when her husband was booked and later convicted for the murder of Indian Express journalist Shivani Bhatnagar. But she vouches for his innocence.
Talking to Hindustan Times at her house, a few metres away from Rathore’s bungalow in Panchkula, Madhu said, “It’s about having faith in the spouse and the institution of marriage.”
Even as Sharma serves a life sentence for murder, Madhu is resolute,
“During 25 years of our marriage, trust has been the basis of our relationship. He can’t kill a fly let alone murder a woman.”
What makes these women defend their husbands? Says sociologist Pam Rajput: “In the heart of hearts, the women might know of their husbands’ guilt, but publicly they support them owing to their own psychological insecurity and for the sake of the family’s honour.”
The trend isn’t limited to India alone. In the United States, when US President Bill Clinton was embroiled in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Hillary Clinton put up a spirited defence for her husband.
Former MLA Gaganjeet Barnala was acquitted of raping a domestic help in 2008 after a two-year-long legal battle. The maid had alleged the rape took place at his flat in Chandigarh in August 2006.
“If a husband runs into trouble you can’t just desert him,” said Harpreet, “ I have been married for 28 years and I knew all along that he is not guilty.”
Actor Shiney Ahuja’s wife Anupam gave up a job in a New York finance firm last year to join her husband in Mumbai.
A day after police arrested Shiney for raping his teenaged domestic help, Anupam faced the media and rubbished the charges. She was present at all court hearings and stood by him like a rock.
“Anupam had to leave her infant daughter in Delhi but never complained,” said Shiney’s lawyer Shrikant Shivde.
“She would shuttle between courts and the Arthur Road prison in Mumbai, where Shiney was lodged, right from the day of his arrest in June. She believes Shiney is innocent.”
