NO ONE KILLED AARUSHI
Allahabad HC acquits Talwars in Aarushi murder case after 9 long years
Nine years after being accused of and charged with murdering their teenaged daughter Aarushi and servant Hemraj, dentist couple Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were acquitted by the Allahabad High Court on Thursday. The court gave them the benefit of doubt saying that neither the circumstances nor the evidence was enough to hold them guilty.
The High Court rejected the CBI report and held that the Talwars were “not guilty”. The court has ordered their immediate release. The Talwars could be freed from Ghaziabad’s Dasna Jail, where they have been serving their life sentence since November 2013, on Friday.
The CBI team under Kumar had concluded that Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj were murdered by Krishna Thadarai, help at Talwar’s clinic, his friend Rajkumar, a domestic servant with Praful and Anita Durrani who were Talwars’ friends, and Vijay Mandal, driver of Talwars’ neighbour.
During their appeal in the Allahabad High Court, lawyers for the Talwars were able to demolish CBI’s star witness’ claims who suggested the outer door of the flat was locked from inside, ruling out any eventuality of outsiders entering the house and committing the gruesome murders.
The court has dismissed the postmortem doctor’s testimony about sexual relations between Aarushi and Hemraj.
The findings, however, were trashed by then CBI director Ashwani Kumar who found holes in the investigation by Arun Kumar.
“It is a well-discussed case. Subject to the confirmation of the court (about Talwar couple being innocent), think of the family and what has happened to them. Let us review our criminal justice system,” Arun Kumar said.
He said nobody should face what the Talwars had faced.
“#AarushiVerdict My only concern is how do we ensure that this is not repeated with any other case! It was worth pursuing the truth,” the additional director general of the BSF wrote on Twitter.
The verdict ends, at least for now, the nine-year ordeal of the Noida couple who were sentenced to life by a CBI court on November 28, 2013 for the double murder that not only transfixed but also shook the nation.
They have really suffered. They are emotionally drained.
B.G. CHITNIS, Nupur’s father