Patna: She is an accused in the Bihar toppers scam, but Ruby Rai wants to move on and change her life. She wants to become a lawyer, or an officer, and not be hindered by her tainted past.
Ruby, who was detained in connection with the scam, has been released from a remand home here. And it appears that her days at the home have changed her for the better.
"I will focus on studies and become either a lawyer or an officer," Ruby told news agency IANS.
She said her stay at the remand home has been a life-changing experience. But those days are over. She's now "relaxed and happy" and "ready to start life afresh".
"I will work hard to prove myself. I have decided to forget what happened with me," she said.
Ruby claimed she was innocent and has been the victim of a conspiracy. "I have no idea and don't know why I was detained and sent to the remand home. I have nothing to do with the toppers scam," she said.
After her name cropped up in the scam, she was detained and sent to Beur jail in Patna. Later, she was sent to a remand home as she was a minor.
Ruby had reportedly topped this year's Class 12 examination conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) in the humanities stream.
She scored 444 out of 500 marks but her result was cancelled when she failed a re-test conducted by the Board of Secondary Education.
She got into trouble after a sting by a television news channel showed her giving ludicrous answers to elementary questions related to her subjects.
She was detained in June by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) after the scam surfaced.
Similarly, Class 12 science stream topper Saurabh Shreshtha was also caught on camera giving wrong answers to basic questions on science.
Both Ruby and Saurabh belonged to VR College in Vaishali district.
The sting suggested that the so-called toppers might have cheated in the examination.
Following the sting, the SIT of Bihar Police registered an FIR against Ruby, Saurabh and three other 'toppers'.
After being detained, Ruby told the police that it was one Bachcha chacha (uncle) and her father who helped her to score high marks.
She was referring to Bachcha Rai, the alleged kingpin of the scam and former director of VR College. Bachcha was arrested and is currently in jail.
Till date over 20 persons have been arrested in connection with the scam, including former Chairman of Bihar School Examination Board Lalkeshwar Prasad and his wife Usha Sinha.