THE OTHER SIDE: UP police

Revisiting Aarushi Murder Case.

A book Aarushi : Anatomy of a Murder by Avirook Sen and a movie Talvaar directed by Meghna Gulzar made me rethink about Aarushi murder case. I have previously analysed Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case in my post on the basis of records in the media but the book and the movie have changed my perspective on the case completely. From their point of view the police and the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) did a cover up of the situation and concocted a story under media pressure. There were evidences of presence of other people in the house which was neglected by both the investigation agency during investigation. Based on police theory my analysis of the situation was also one-sided, I have also blamed Talwar couple for honor killing of their daughter although I doubted Aarushi-Hemraj illicit relationship angle but according to police theory no other angle was possible in the case.

I am not changing my position and opinion on the case for book and movie but they do highlight the factual inaccuracy in the case. I am not questioning intelligence of honorable court but the court is bound to witnesses and evidences. The negligent approach of the Uttar Pradesh police in the initial investigation lead to destruction of important evidence which they covered by making a story and then did their best to prove it right. Later Talwar couple was convicted by court on the basis of circumstantial evidence. If police would be more careful, if CBI have taken different approach in the investigation the case would not become a Sherlock Holmes mystery.

This case tells us importance of investigation agencies in solving a case. Their approach towards a case decides the fate of the accused and the justice for the victim. 14-year old Aarushi have suffered a lot in her death. Her character was maligned and everybody believed without any protests. The case must be reopened for a fresh investigation owing to the highlighting of some new aspect of the case. But here we must not forget that since the day of the judgement there were efforts to label all investigation wrong to get acquittal for Talwar couple and this book and movie perhaps is part of these efforts to initiate a revisit on the case.

Whatever be the reason of this new angle and whatever be the fate of this case one point is certain that process. our system is incompetent enough to let us believe about the discrepancies in the investigation.

Aarushi Murder Case

Aarushi - Hemraj double murder case is a very mysterious case of our time. A 14 year old girl named Aarushi Talwar who lived with her parents Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar in Noida found murdered in her house on 16th May 2008, first it was believed that she was murdered by their domestic help Hemraj Banjade because he was missing, next day the case took a new turn when Hemraj's dead body was found at the terrace of Talwar's residence this made Aarushi's parents Rajesh and Nupur Talwar as main suspects. The case saw many up and down in its investigations during its transfer from UP police to CBI and finally after five and a half year Rajesh and Nupur Talwar the parents of Aarushi Talwar were convicted to life imprisonment by special CBI court on 25th November 2013 on circumstantial evidence.

There were only four people present in Talwar's house at the night of 15-16th May 2008 two of which were killed since no evidence of any outsiders' entry was available hypothesis of crime clearly proves that other two present in the house were responsible for killing of both the victims and then further destroying the evidence. In spite of this clear theory police and CBI are still clueless of what happened that night. The accused even after conviction states that they are not guilty and haven't killed any body. The case received heavy media coverage which also leads to the media trial of the case,many theories regarding the case were spread, Aarushi's character assassination also happened which was criticized by many women groups.

The case was twisted and became mysterious due to the improper investigation by UP police.There failure in securing crime scene and not following leads immediately resulted in loss of important evidences. It was very clear from the beginning that Talwar couple was behind the crime but inefficiency by police investigation team helped them in manipulating the course of event and in destroying the evidence. The case reached CBI but the tale remain the same and the case was almost closed without the lack of evidence and motive. Later court ordered that there are enough evidence against Talwars to be tried in the court. There were also reports that Talwars used their connections to distort the case. One can easily conclude by courts judgement and substantial evidence available that Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar killed their daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj after seeing them in indecent position in fit of rage.

The importance of this case lies in the fact that it highlights the widening ridge between working parents and their children if there was a closeness between Hemraj and Aarushi than parents must be aware of it and should have taken some measures about it timely. In upper middle class where both the parents are working children often become close to domestic helps as they spend most of the time with them. We are unaware of what happened that night but there is a possibility that their closeness get interpreted in a wrong way because no other domestic helps,security guard ,etc never ever noticed any unnatural behavior between Aarushi and Hemraj. If we consider indecent activity theory true then honor killing by educated reputed class is again a dangerous sign in social scenario. Such behavior is unacceptable from educated lot in the society. Anyways the justice is delivered according to the law in time as compare to many other cases of our times.

I also hope that Talwars must confess their crime and tell true story of that night to the world as possibility of them not being guilty is less than one percent.