Talwar couple found guilty of killing daughter Aarushi and servant Hemraj
Special CBI judge Shyam Lal held the couple guilty of murder and destruction of evidence under section 302 and 201 of Indian Penal code(IPC) respectively. Rajesh Talwar was also separately held guilty, under section 203, of registering a false FIR. Soon after the judgment, Talwars issued a statement saying they were deeply disappointed and hurt by the verdict.
The two were taken into custody immediately after the verdict.The court will hear the arguments on the quantum of sentence on Tuesday.
The verdict comes almost five-and-a-half years after the sensationaldouble murder was committed.
The CBI had accused the parents — Rajesh and Nupur Talwar — of being the killers, going by circumstantial evidence, testimony of witnesses and forensic reports.
The Talwars had all along claimed that “they have been framed” on the basis of conjectures and tutored witnesses.
When the Noida police first came to know on May 16, 2008 that the 14-year-old daughter of prominent dentist Dr Rajesh Talwar had been murdered at their residence in Jalvayu Vihar allegedly by their servant, Hemraj Banjade, it appeared as a regular murder case.
But things changed dramatically the very next day when Hemraj’s body was found on the terrace of the house. The Noida police and two CBI teams investigated the case, which saw many twists and turns.
From Dr Rajesh and Nupur Talwar going to jail and allegations of tampering of evidence to witnesses turning hostile, police officers getting shifted, closure report being filed, parents coming out on bail and then a trial – the case has kept both the media and people transfixed.
The latest trial got over on November 12 after almost 19 months during which CBI used testimony of close to 90 witnesses in order to prove that it was only the parents who could have committed the murders and there was no possibility of an outsider entering the house.
The motive: Dr Talwar found his daughter in an objectionable state with Hemraj after which he killed them with a golf club and slit their throats using a surgical scalpel or knife. CBI’s investigating officer A G L Kaul stated that he wanted to make Dr Rajesh Talwar’s brother, Dinesh Talwar, a suspect as well.
During cross-examination and their final arguments, the counsel for Talwars – Satyaketu Singh and Tanveer Ahmed Mir – slammed every aspect of CBI’s investigations. They alleged that its important witnesses like Dr Sunil Dohre, Naresh Raj and M S Dahiya had improved their statements while many witnesses like maid Bharti and CDFD (Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics) experts had been tutored by the agency. Talwars’ lawyers alleged that CBI had tampered with, fabricated and changed the evidence to frame the parents and that its case against them was full of “alternate hypothesis” and had no merit….