Panchkula (Haryana), Dec 28 : Anand Prakash and his family members are preparing to observe the 16th death anniversary of Ruchika Girhotra Tuesday by visiting the place where she spent her last days of life.

"Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the 16th death anniversary of Ruchika. We would go to house number 363 in Sector 6 in Panchkula where she committed suicide. There we would light lamps in her memory and observe one minute's silence for the peace of her soul," Prakash told reporters here Monday.

"Thereafter we would start a peace march from there in which people of different age groups from various sections of society would participate."

Ruchika had consumed poison Dec 28, 1993 and died at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh on the following day.

A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Chandigarh had Dec 21 held Rathore, former Haryana director general of police (DGP), guilty of molesting
14-year-old Ruchika in Panchkula town Aug 12, 1990 and sentenced him to a six-month prison term. However, he was immediately granted bail.

The budding tennis player had committed suicide three years after the incident.

Prakash and his wife Madhu have been fighting for justice for Ruchika and her family for the last 19 years. Aradhana, Ruchika's best friend, was the lone witness to the molestation incident.(IANS)