Aarushi Talwar Case - This can happen to anyone!

I know posting views and opinions on facebook is not the “Correct” thing to do these days and I also know that many people try to settle personal vendetta through this medium but unfortunately I am just not able to restrain myself from posting my feelings on this particular topic. It is about Rajesh and Nupur Talwar who were convicted for the murder of their only daughter Aarushi Talwar in 2013.

I would request all the readers of this post not to compare this with the news making round these days. I know nothing about the Indrani case and I strongly believe that these two cases are entirely different.

The trigger for this post is a book I recently read – Aarushi by Avirook Sen. The book talks about the Talwar family and the horrific incident which happened on 16^th May 2008, the rumors which were intentionally or unintentionally spread in the media reg. the Talwars indulging in wife swapping, they having a very rich background etc., the investigation of the case and last but not the least, the Trial which gave a “Guilty” verdict to the parents. Now there are many things which I started acknowledging while reading this book. 

1.   The stereotypes that exist in our society with respect to young boys and girls studying in English medium schools. That they start indulging in sexual activities pretty early in life and the speed at which they are advancing; perhaps the time is not far when we might say that even 8 – 9 year olds might be doing it. Also the fact that since one or two MMS cases have come to the foray, courtesy some psycho kids, we have started assuming that all kids who go to good schools and converse in English and esp. good looking girls, do it.

2.       Our craving for sensationalism doesn’t know any limits. We are ready to believe just about anything as long as it is interesting to hear / discuss. And media is more than happy in accentuating this craving to get better TRPs. Without doing the slightest due diligence, these idiots happily and unapologetically declare people guilty.

3.       The high regard we hold for judiciary and CBI. We generally think that it is the politician who the villains and our judiciary is the pillar which has kept the country strong and that CBI is better than the Police. Well the truth is that the selection criteria for CBI is no different from police services and that both are IPS officers, just that they happen to get a different department at the time of posting. Judges – well if they were that great, we wouldn’t have some of the open and shut cases go the way the have – Bhai, amma, lallu (the list is never ending).

Coming back to the book, It is obviously biased towards the Talwars. The author clearly believes that the Talwars didn’t do it and that perhaps three servants who used to work in some nearby houses might be involved (which was also the view of the CBI’s first investigating officer) but the interesting part is that this part never made it to the news because obviously there was way too much sensationalism in painting the Talwars with the red paint. The combination of a young girl indulging in sex + Rich Parents with no morals + honor killing of the daughter was a ready made TRP story and who would want to miss it.

When I started reading the book, I got stuck with a couple of key points:

1.       A girl who is not even 14 years old having an affair with a house servant who was 45 years old sounded simply blasphemous. The girl (Aarushi) had to have a mental problem if that was true. But that wasn’t the case as has been testified by her friends even after all this was over.

2.       Aarushi was Talwars’ only daughter and she too had come very late into their lives. Killing her just to protect their family’s honor again was something that I was not able to digest and mind it, this is not a case of khap panchayat. We are talking about two dentists who had a lover marriage.

3.       After the closure report in which the CBI themselves claimed that they have not found any evidence to make a case against anyone, what evidence did they find which helped them win a conviction.

After reading this book, I was completely convinced that the parents didn’t do it. It was a botched up investigation where the CBI, perhaps, wanted to prove that they can also solve a case, in which a high-profile family was involved (only a rumor spread by the media coz if they really had been high profile, they wouldn’t be in the prison right now). There are multiple evidences as cited by the book which clearly prove that the Talwars were simply framed and by the end of it, I also believed it.

Now the most provoking thought that I had was, what if it’d been my family instead of Talwars! We could also have been shown as living in a posh residential society, in a house which is worth millions, as people who frequent the pubs / restaurants regularly and live a lavish life and that we deserve to be punished. What can you do if something like this really happens to you! I was literally in tears when I read the excerpts towards the end of the book from Rajesh Talwar’s diary which he is writing in the prison and was wondering what did they do to deserve this (if they really didn’t kill Aarushi).

I would request each one of you who has come this far in reading this long post to please read this book (I am not getting any commission from the author / publisher) but I really want as many people as possible to read it so that the news which has been fed to us by the media can be washed away. I don’t know what I can do to help the family but I would be more than happy to do whatever I can. I also have a copy of the book in Delhi and if anyone wants to read that one, please ping me.