Talwars get life sentence
JUDGE REJECTS PROSECUTION’S DEMAND FOR DEATH PENALTY; DEFENCE LAWYERS TO APPEAL
Verdict against dentist couple in India for the murder of their 14- year- old daughter and a domestic help five years ago, concludes a sensational trial
An Indian court sentenced a dentist couple to life in prison yesterday for the murder of their 14- yearold daughter and a Nepalese servant five years ago, concluding a sensational trial that has sharply divided public opinion.
Rajesh and Nupur Talwar had been convicted on Monday of murdering Aarushi, 14, and Nepalese employee Hemraj Banjade at their home in an affluent New Delhi suburb in 2008, following a trial whose every detail was scrutinised by the media.
Judge Shyam Lal rejected prosecution requests for the death penalty yesterday, instead giving the couple life in jail for the killings that investigators allege were carried out with “clinical precision”.
“Life imprisonment is the basic sentence. We are satisfied with the judgement. The case has come to an end,” prosecutor R. K. Saini told a horde of reporters outside the court in Ghaziabad, a satellite city just outside the capital.
The couple’s jailing was the latest twist in the case that has been awash with sexual rumours and allegations of police bungling and media bias.
Investigators said the Talwars killed Aarushi in a fit of rage after finding her with the 45- year- old servant in an “objectionable position”, suggesting the double murder was a so- called honour killing.
The couple, successful, middle- class dentists, vowed to appeal the conviction, while their lawyers launched a scathing attack on India’s Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI).
“The battle is not over, it has only begun. We will file an appeal and we are convinced that the conviction will be overturned,” defence lawyer Tanvir Ahmad Mir said.
The trial came as India increasingly focuses on violent crime against women following the fatal gang- rape of a student in Delhi last year that sparked outrage over the country’s treatment of women.
The case has also raised awkward questions about the relationship between wealthy Indian families and the poor, often- migrant servants who cook, clean and look after their every need.
Top criminal lawyer Rebecca John accused the CBI of incompetence and abuse of power. It first closed the investigation, citing lack of evidence — only to later reopen the case at the parents’ request and charge them with murder.
“For an agency that asked for a closure of the case to then ask for the death sentence, I think it is a grotesque abuse of power and it raises fundamental issues about our society in the administration of justice,” John said.
“I think this very demand of the CBI [ seeking the death penalty] is indicative of the witchhunt that has taken place in this case.”
Aarushi, whom friends described as a chirpy, highachieving student, was found on her bed with her throat cut one morning in May 2008.
Police initially blamed the missing domestic servant Hemraj — only to find his decomposing body on the roof a day later with a similar cut throat and head wounds.
Officers then arrested Rajesh Talwar’s dental assistant and two other local servants — Hemraj’s friends — but they were freed for lack of evidence.
The botched probe — police failed to seal the crime scene or to find the second body for over 24 hours — prompted investigators to close the case in 2010, citing “critical and substantial gaps” in the evidence.