Chasing The Truth- Murder In Noida
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00:00:00 But first our top story, the latest developments in the Arushi Talwar murder case.
00:00:11 What we are being told is at this moment the big breaking news, the end of 5 and a half
00:00:18 years, Arushi Talwar.
00:00:20 He was put through a lie detector test and sources in the CBI say he was deceptive during
00:00:25 that test.
00:00:33 This is a story that has been making headlines.
00:00:46 But it's clear that the investigation was a complete mockery of justice.
00:01:04 The city of Noida is what is known as a planned city and it can be found in India's northern
00:01:27 state of Uttar Pradesh.
00:01:29 A planned city, community or town is any community that was carefully planned from its inception
00:01:34 and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land.
00:01:37 Noida sits around 16 miles east of New Delhi and over the years has become a hub for software
00:01:43 companies and mobile app development, with companies such as Microsoft, Samsung and Barclays
00:01:48 working from there.
00:01:49 It is also a popular place for creative media with titans like T-Series, Zee News and India
00:01:55 TV being based there too.
00:01:58 In 2008 it was home to the Talwar family, 13 year old Arushi Talwar and her parents,
00:02:04 Rajesh and Nupur.
00:02:07 Arushi was described as clever and studious, friendly but also quite shy.
00:02:11 After 5 years of IVF treatment and their hopes of one day having a baby girl, Arushi was
00:02:16 born and her mother Nupur described her as 'sunshine in their lives'.
00:02:21 As a family they loved travelling together, going all over the world, with Arushi documenting
00:02:26 everything.
00:02:30 She was an only child and had a close group of friends who would call themselves the 'Awesome
00:02:36 Foursome'.
00:02:37 She was enrolled at Delhi Public School and worked hard in all her studies.
00:02:41 Her friends said it took her a while to open up with people but when she did, she was fun
00:02:46 and loved to joke around and she had dreams of being famous one day.
00:02:51 Arushi was the one everyone wanted to be friends with, she was always positive and had a calming
00:02:56 nature.
00:02:57 One of Arushi's best friends Fizza said they loved taking photos of everything they did
00:03:01 and everywhere they went and they would turn these photos into collages to go on their
00:03:05 bedroom walls.
00:03:08 Arushi was about to turn 14 and had been excitedly planning her birthday party with her friends.
00:03:21 She lived in a second floor apartment in Noida's Sector 25 with her parents.
00:03:33 The Talwars had several people that worked in the home as domestic help, one of which
00:03:38 was 45-year-old Hemraj Banjad.
00:03:41 He also lived in the apartment.
00:03:44 Originally from the Dharapani village in the Gandaki zone of northern Nepal, Hemraj's
00:03:48 family always struggled to get by and he started working in India to support them, sending
00:03:53 his wife between 4000 and 6000 rupees a month, the equivalent of 50 to 80 dollars.
00:03:59 He would travel back home a couple of times a year and stay for a short while before returning
00:04:03 to work.
00:04:05 The family's apartment was located in Jalvayu Vihar, a sprawling complex of many other apartments.
00:04:11 The Talwars' home was 1,300 square feet, with three bedrooms, a drawing dining room
00:04:18 and a quarter for their domestic help, which is where Hemraj slept.
00:04:22 The entrance to the apartment had three doors, the outermost gate, the middle grill door
00:04:28 and the innermost wooden door.
00:04:35 Hemraj's room had two doors, one door opened inside the apartment and the other door was
00:04:40 located between the two grill doors.
00:04:44 Rajesh and Nupur slept in the master bedroom, while Arushi slept in the adjacent room, around
00:04:49 eight feet away.
00:04:59 The Talwars were a powerful and successful family and, by all accounts, lived a very
00:05:04 good life.
00:05:06 Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were doctors and headed the dental department at Fortis Hospital,
00:05:11 whilst also practising at a clinic in Sector 27, which they shared with close friends,
00:05:16 Anita and Praful Durrani.
00:05:18 Rajesh taught at the ITS Dental College as well, and the couple were always very busy.
00:05:24 Vizah said that although Arushi's parents were often working, they had a close and honest
00:05:28 relationship with their daughter, trusting her to make the right choices about where
00:05:33 she went and who she hung out with.
00:05:45 Nupur went to work at the couple's clinic between 9am and 1pm.
00:05:49 Half an hour later, she picked Arushi up from school and they headed back to their apartment.
00:05:55 They ate lunch at home with Rajesh's brother's wife Vandana.
00:05:59 Nupur then went to do her shift at the Fortis Hospital, which started at 4.30pm before ending
00:06:04 at 7.
00:06:06 She returned to the apartment at 7.30pm.
00:06:09 Rajesh had been teaching since 8.45am and finished his day at the clinic at 8.30pm,
00:06:15 before his driver, Umesh Sharma, dropped him back at the apartment at 9.30pm.
00:06:20 Umesh then went to park the car at Nupur's parents' home, as the Talwars didn't have
00:06:24 a garage.
00:06:26 Around 10 minutes later, Umesh returned to give the keys back to Rajesh.
00:06:29 Umesh saw Nupur and Arushi sat at the dining table, as well as Rajesh and Hemraj too.
00:06:36 Hemraj had cooked dinner for everyone and after Umesh left, the family sat down to eat.
00:06:41 Rajesh and Nupur said that after dinner, they gave Arushi an early birthday present.
00:06:45 The 13-year-old loved taking photos and the gift was aptly chosen - a new Sony digital
00:06:51 camera.
00:06:52 They took a few pictures together as a family and Arushi took some of herself, with the
00:06:56 last photo being taken at 10 past 10.
00:07:04 After they finished, the family started to wind down and get ready for bed at around
00:07:08 11pm.
00:07:09 The landline was located in Rajesh and Nupur's bedroom and, a short time after 11, Rajesh
00:07:15 answered a landline call that came from the United States.
00:07:19 Rajesh then asked Nupur to turn on the internet router which was located in Arushi's bedroom.
00:07:24 Nupur said her daughter was reading a book when she went in called 'The Three Mistakes
00:07:28 of My Life'.
00:07:30 Everything appeared fine.
00:07:32 Rajesh browsed some stock and dentistry sites before catching up on his emails.
00:07:37 The last email was sent at 11.57pm.
00:07:41 He said after this, he went to sleep.
00:07:47 Around the same time, a boy named Anmol was trying to get hold of Arushi.
00:07:51 Many reports state they were good friends, but her friend Fizza said he was actually
00:07:55 her boyfriend.
00:07:56 When Arushi didn't respond at around 11.30pm, Anmol called the landline.
00:08:01 This call also went unanswered, which seemed odd as it had just been answered not long
00:08:06 earlier.
00:08:07 He phoned the landline again about half an hour later, but it also rang out.
00:08:12 Arushi stayed up quite late talking to her friends on the phone and the lack of response
00:08:16 from anyone inside the home was odd.
00:08:19 Anmol sent Arushi a text at 12.30am, but the message would never be received by her phone,
00:08:24 as it would turn out that her phone had been inactive since 9.10pm.
00:08:29 The family's new housemaid, Bharti Mandal, rang the doorbell ready to start work for
00:08:53 the day.
00:08:54 She was usually let inside by Hemraj, but he didn't come to the door.
00:08:58 She rang the bell a few more times, and then said she tried pushing the door, but said
00:09:02 it didn't open either.
00:09:04 Nupur soon opened the innermost door, and the pair spoke through the middle grill door.
00:09:09 Bharti said, "I rang the doorbell twice, but the door was not opened.
00:09:14 I tried to push it, but it did not open.
00:09:17 Aunty came near the wooden door inside.
00:09:19 She told me that Hemraj must have gone out to fetch milk and locked the door from the
00:09:22 outside."
00:09:24 Nupur asked Bharti to wait until he came back, but Bharti was keen to get in and start working,
00:09:29 and asked Nupur to give her the keys.
00:09:31 Bharti went back downstairs, and Nupur went to the balcony.
00:09:34 She said to Bharti that perhaps the door wasn't locked, and was just on the latch, and asked
00:09:38 her to check it again.
00:09:39 Bharti told her to throw the keys anyway, as if it was locked, it would save her going
00:09:44 up and down the stairs twice.
00:09:45 Nupur threw the keys to her.
00:09:47 Bharti recalled, "When I got back to the main grill door, it opened without the key.
00:09:52 I then opened the latch on the second grill door, which is adjacent to the wooden door,
00:09:56 and went inside."
00:09:58 Which of the doors Bharti was initially referring to remains a point of confusion, and these
00:10:02 inconsistencies would be reflected in later statements.
00:10:06 Hemraj being absent struck her as very odd.
00:10:09 Rajesh and Nupur often slept in due to their late shifts, and it was always Hemraj's job
00:10:14 to let people into the home.
00:10:16 Nupur said she rang Hemraj's mobile, but it was swiftly cut off after only a few rings.
00:10:21 She hung up and rang again, but this time it appeared the phone had been turned off.
00:10:27 While Bharti was letting herself into the apartment, Rajesh was also up and awake.
00:10:32 He said he went into the living room area and saw a nearly empty bottle of whiskey,
00:10:37 covered in blood, on the dining table.
00:10:40 He asked Nupur to check Arushi's room straight away.
00:10:43 Arushi had a bathroom just off of her bedroom, and her bedroom door would stay locked at
00:10:47 night.
00:10:48 It was a self-locking door that could only be opened from the inside or from the outside
00:10:53 with a key.
00:10:54 The keys were usually left on Nupur's bedside table, but this morning, her door was unlocked.
00:11:02 Nupur later said she couldn't actually remember if she had locked it that night or not.
00:11:07 When Bharti walked into the home, she realised something was very wrong.
00:11:12 Rajesh was crying and led Bharti into Arushi's room, shouting, "Look what Hemraj has done!"
00:11:18 Nupur was crying silently, seemingly in shock.
00:11:23 Arushi Talwal was lying in a pool of blood, covered by a blanket, with her schoolbag over
00:11:28 her face.
00:11:29 Despite Bharti running to the neighbours for help, nothing could be done.
00:11:34 Arushi had been dead for some time.
00:11:37 Her throat had been slit and she had been bludgeoned with something.
00:11:41 She had an injury on her forehead just above her left eye.
00:11:44 This blow to the head had caused a deep cut and resulted in a blood clot in her brain.
00:11:49 Sometime after 7.30am, the police arrived at the property and were met with a crowd
00:11:54 of 15 people in the living room.
00:12:07 More people were in the master bedroom and the media were even allowed inside too.
00:12:13 It was clear the crime scene was already very contaminated.
00:12:17 Authorities set about gathering evidence as best they could, but despite them lifting
00:12:22 almost 30 fingerprints from around the home, most of the prints were smudged and therefore
00:12:27 couldn't be used as evidence.
00:12:29 The crime scene also appeared to show that an attempt had been made to clean up.
00:12:33 It would later turn out that the Talwars instructed their domestic help to clean the floor and
00:12:38 walls of Arushi's bedroom, while the police were still inside the home, something not
00:12:43 many could make sense of.
00:12:45 There were bloodstains on the handle of the terrace door and blood drops leading there.
00:12:49 The terrace door was locked.
00:12:53 Nothing had been stolen, there were no signs of a forced entry and the police said the
00:12:57 crime appeared to have been committed purely out of rage.
00:13:02 An expert who first inspected the scene said that the evidence pointed towards the murders
00:13:05 being committed by somebody very close to Arushi.
00:13:09 It appeared to be an inside job, the expert said.
00:13:12 Jalvayu Vihar has six security guards that supervised it and all of them stated they
00:13:17 had not seen anyone visiting or leaving the Talwars' house that night.
00:13:21 However, the complex had 1,886 apartments at the time, with nearly 10,000 people living
00:13:27 there, so keeping track of everyone coming and going, especially late at night, would
00:13:32 be very hard.
00:13:34 A post-mortem was performed at around 8.30am.
00:13:37 Dr. Dohre wrote the reports and checked to see if there was any evidence to suggest that
00:13:42 Arushi had been sexually assaulted.
00:14:00 He initially noted that nothing abnormal could be found regarding her genital area and no
00:14:05 semen was found at the scene, but the sample that was sent away was later suspected to
00:14:11 have been tampered with.
00:14:13 Later on, Dr. Dohre said that her vaginal area was extraordinarily dilated.
00:14:18 He noted that the dilation could have been caused by someone manipulating her body while
00:14:22 rigor mortis was setting in.
00:14:24 Arushi's pyjama bottoms appeared to have been pulled up or pulled down and her rear was
00:14:30 exposed and there was evidence that her vaginal area had also been cleaned, for reasons unconfirmed.
00:14:38 Rajesh and Nupur were adamant that there was only one person police officers should be
00:14:43 looking for - Hemraj Banjad.
00:14:48 Police asked the couple how they didn't hear anything being just metres away from their
00:14:52 daughter's room, but they said they heard nothing.
00:14:55 Their door was closed and their air conditioning unit was loud and must have blocked out any
00:14:59 noise.
00:15:00 A sound test was later conducted, recreating a similar situation, and the report stated
00:15:05 no sound was heard in the bedroom by either of the persons.
00:15:10 Police also suspected Hemraj and had to conduct a search of the property to make sure he wasn't
00:15:14 hiding anywhere, but when they tried to open the door that led them out to the terrace,
00:15:19 Rajesh stopped them.
00:15:21 Instead, he offered them 25,000 rupees to go out into the streets and find him, believing
00:15:26 he was long gone and now on the run.
00:15:30 Sources say that the terrace door was never locked until that day, so this in itself seemed
00:15:35 odd.
00:15:36 Failure to get the terrace door keys meant that the terrace would be inaccessible for
00:15:39 an entire day.
00:15:43 Everyone was now on the hunt to find Hemraj.
00:15:46 Police issued several statements and appeals, hoping to locate him.
00:15:50 The police's initial theory - that he had entered Arushi's room in an inebriated state
00:15:54 after drinking from the whiskey bottle found on the table, and had either attempted to,
00:15:59 or managed to, sexually assault her.
00:16:02 When she resisted, he killed her.
00:16:05 Police thought he might have slit her throat with a kukri, a native Nepalese knife, but
00:16:09 those that knew Hemraj said he was teetotal, so this raised questions too.
00:16:15 There was blood found on Arushi's pillow, bed, walls, floor, and the front side of her
00:16:21 bedroom door, however there was no blood on her toys, her school bag, the book she was
00:16:26 reading before she was killed, or her pink pillow, kept on the back of her bed.
00:16:32 This indicated that they were placed on the bed after the murder had occurred.
00:16:36 A part of Arushi's mattress was cut out and sent for analysis, along with her pillow,
00:16:41 bed sheets and clothes.
00:16:42 One of Rajesh's employees, Vikas, later admitted he, along with three others, attempted to
00:16:47 dump the remaining part of her mattress on the terrace, but couldn't because it was still
00:16:52 locked.
00:16:53 Someone then suggested he throw the mattress onto a neighbouring terrace, which they did.
00:16:59 While on the neighbouring terrace, no one appeared to notice anything on top of the
00:17:03 Talwar's terrace.
00:17:14 At around 1pm, Arushi's body was brought back home after the autopsy had been completed.
00:17:19 She was placed on ice slabs.
00:17:22 More friends and family gathered at the house for a worship ritual, known as a puja.
00:17:26 The puja can be performed in a variety of settings, and for many different occasions.
00:17:31 It may honour or celebrate the presence of special guests, or a loved one's memory, after
00:17:35 their passing.
00:17:37 Her best friend Fizza also arrived at the house to pay her respects.
00:17:41 She described Rajesh as almost delirious, shouting and crying and repeating over and
00:17:46 over, "Look at what they have done to your friend."
00:17:48 They moved freely about the home, all the while trying to avoid the blood.
00:17:53 Fizza said as scared as she was, she needed to see Arushi for closure.
00:17:57 The friends sat down near her body, and did their best to say their goodbyes.
00:18:02 Fizza couldn't fathom how this had happened.
00:18:05 She said, "Arushi had come to my house a day before her death, excited, jumping, bubbly,
00:18:11 but she had a bad cold.
00:18:12 We were working on a school project together.
00:18:15 She was extremely excited about the weekend, and her birthday party.
00:18:18 She was going to have a sleepover.
00:18:20 I spoke to her on the phone the evening before.
00:18:23 Everything seemed normal."
00:18:25 She also said that the prospect of Hemraj committing the crime was "shocking and confusing".
00:18:30 He was well trusted by the family, and kept to himself while he worked.
00:18:33 It was completely out of left field.
00:18:36 Later that day, Arushi would be cremated.
00:18:40 Many would accuse the Talwars of being in a rush to cremate their daughter, but her
00:18:43 body was decomposing fast.
00:18:46 Family and friends were already travelling to pay their respects, and the police said
00:18:49 they didn't need to examine her body further.
00:18:52 Dinesh Talwar, Rajesh's brother, said many people he knew were brought up in a way where
00:18:56 you didn't really show emotion, you just got on with things.
00:19:00 Just because the couple were not crying in public, didn't mean they did not care, he
00:19:04 said.
00:19:04 Rajesh and the poor Talwar left for Haridwar to immerse Arushi's ashes in the Ganges River.
00:19:11 Back in Noida, the police were still looking for Hemraj, but that search would soon come
00:19:32 to an abrupt and shocking end.
00:19:36 The retired Deputy Superintendent of Police KK Gautam, who knew the family, arrived at
00:19:41 the home to pay his respects.
00:19:43 Noticing the same blood spots on the stairs that the others had done, he called the police
00:19:47 team and asked why the terrace door was still locked, believing this could have been where
00:19:51 the murder weapon had been hidden.
00:19:53 They quickly arrived back at the building.
00:19:55 "How did you not notice these bloodstains?
00:19:57 Did you not go onto the terrace?"
00:19:59 Gautam asked.
00:20:00 The superintendent said he couldn't get hold of the keys, but he soon fell silent when
00:20:04 Gautam explained he could have just broken the lock and forced his way out.
00:20:09 The team eventually did just that, getting onto the terrace at about 10.30am.
00:20:16 Hemraj Banjad's body was discovered in what was an advanced state of putrefaction, further
00:20:28 exacerbated by the hot summer weather.
00:20:30 On top of him was a water panel, a panel that would never be taken into evidence.
00:20:36 His throat had been slit in exactly the same way as Arushi's, and he had been hit on
00:20:40 the back of the head by what appeared to be the same blunt object.
00:20:45 Blood covered the terrace and terrace door, and behind his body was a trail that indicated
00:20:50 he had been dragged there.
00:20:51 Rajesh and Nupur were called back to their home.
00:20:54 Rajesh was asked to come out onto the terrace to identify his body, but he said he couldn't
00:20:58 be sure because of the decomposition and injuries.
00:21:01 A friend of Hemraj would soon formally identify the 45-year-old.
00:21:06 The keys to the terrace door would never be found.
00:21:10 The Talwars said this key was on a set that belonged to Hemraj, but the whole set would
00:21:14 remain missing.
00:21:17 A partial male DNA profile was found on the gate leading to the terrace, but was never
00:21:23 analysed.
00:21:24 A bloody palm print could be seen on the wall, as could a bloody shoe print on the ground.
00:21:28 As police took Hemraj's body down, KK Gautam recalled how haphazard and messy this all
00:21:34 was.
00:21:35 His blood was going everywhere, and little was done to keep the rest of the area as clean
00:21:39 as possible.
00:21:40 Hemraj's post-mortem showed that he had not eaten dinner that night, even though there
00:21:44 was a plate of food prepped for him in the kitchen, and his bed was still made, indicating
00:21:49 he hadn't gone to sleep that night.
00:21:52 It was also confirmed that none of Hemraj's DNA was found inside Arushi's bedroom.
00:21:58 Authorities now had two murders to focus on, and the media were covering it intensely and
00:22:03 relentlessly.
00:22:05 The police initially detained several people linked to Hemraj, but nothing came of this,
00:22:09 and they were released shortly after.
00:22:10 Anmol, who had made the calls to Arushi that night, was also questioned.
00:22:15 The pair had had hundreds of exchanges over the previous weeks, and the police hoped he
00:22:20 could paint a clearer picture about Arushi's life and state of mind at the time.
00:22:26 Anmol admitted to having a small fight with Arushi that night, and said it was likely
00:22:30 why her phone had been turned off since 9.10pm.
00:22:35 During their conversation, Arushi confided in Anmol that she wasn't seeing eye to eye
00:22:39 with her father.
00:22:41 Having always had a trusting relationship with her parents, she felt in the last two
00:22:45 weeks that had changed for some reason, but didn't know why.
00:22:49 Rajesh in Nepal had a liquor cabinet in the home, which was well hidden behind a wooden
00:22:54 panel.
00:22:55 The whiskey bottle that had been found on the table was confirmed to have blood of both
00:22:59 Hemraj and Arushi on it, but no further DNA or fingerprints were found.
00:23:04 This appeared to indicate to police that whoever had taken the bottle had to have known the
00:23:08 property well, well enough that this, in their eyes, ruled out an outside intruder.
00:23:13 Sadly, however, because the police failed to collect any proper samples from it, it
00:23:18 was impossible to determine anything else.
00:23:20 Looking at the timeline and state of the bodies when they were found, experts and police believe
00:23:25 that Arushi and Hemraj were both killed sometime between midnight and 1am.
00:23:30 Both were hit with the same blunt object first, and their throats were slit afterwards.
00:23:36 Because the blood had drained from Arushi's neck, as opposed to spurting out, this also
00:23:40 confirmed that her throat was slit after she had been hit on the head.
00:23:44 But apart from the bodies, the police actually had little to go on.
00:23:47 An estimated 90% of all evidence was destroyed or contaminated during the investigation.
00:23:56 One reporter recalled laughing and watching in shock as a police officer attempted to
00:24:00 examine the bloody handprint on the wall of the terrace, a handprint that could have been
00:24:04 vital.
00:24:05 The reporter said that by this point, that same handprint had been touched by about 50
00:24:10 people, so trying to analyse it now was totally pointless.
00:24:14 The media, keen to get the latest scoop, were frequently inside the building, often touching
00:24:19 and therefore tampering with things they shouldn't have been.
00:24:26 Arushi's new camera had five photographs on it, numbered 13, 15, 20, 22 and 23.
00:24:35 This indicated that at least 23 photographs had been taken, and 18 had been deleted.
00:24:41 What those photos were and who deleted them remains unknown.
00:24:46 Looking at the photos that had been taken on Arushi's camera, police could see what
00:24:49 clothes Rajesh and Nupur were wearing that night, and they were taken in for examination.
00:24:55 The blood of Arushi was found on Rajesh's clothing, something which could have come
00:24:58 from being in the room after she was found, sources said, but Hemraj's blood was not
00:25:03 found.
00:25:04 No blood was found on Nupur's clothing.
00:25:08 The police said that another big piece of evidence was the fact the internet router
00:25:11 had seemingly been turned off at 3.43am.
00:25:15 An expert said this could only have been done as a result of a power cut, or someone manually
00:25:20 turning it off, and with no recorded power cuts in the area, it could only have been
00:25:25 the other option.
00:25:26 Police already felt strongly that both Arushi and Hemraj's time of death was hours before
00:25:31 3.43am, so this excluded either of them being the ones to turn it off.
00:25:36 This revelation could only point authorities in two directions.
00:25:40 Either, whoever had gone in to turn it off, for some unknown reason, didn't see Arushi,
00:25:45 which seemed almost impossible, or they were the one responsible for her murder.
00:25:51 But further analysis down the line would later confirm that the router had in fact gone on
00:25:55 and off several times throughout the early morning and into the next day, while the police
00:26:00 were there, undermining the theories.
00:26:04 Phone records showed that between the hours of 3pm and 6pm on May 16th, while Arushi's
00:26:09 autopsy report was being written up, several calls were going back and forth.
00:26:13 Rajesh's brother Dinesh, the chairman of the Noida Eye Hospital, Sushil Chowdhury,
00:26:18 the retired Deputy Superintendent of Police, KK Gautam, and someone else, who remains unidentified,
00:26:25 all began to communicate.
00:26:27 Dinesh phoned Sushil Chowdhury, who then called KK Gautam.
00:26:31 After this, KK Gautam would call the unidentified number.
00:26:34 This cycle would repeat a number of times.
00:26:37 Dr. Sushil Chowdhury called me on my phone around 12 noon, and told me his friend Dinesh
00:26:42 Talwar's niece had been murdered, and her body had been sent for a post-mortem.
00:26:47 He asked me to help expedite the post-mortem, and to make sure that 'rape' was not mentioned
00:26:52 in the report, to which I replied it was not in my power.
00:26:57 Looking at Nupur's phone, it was unusually switched off between May 15th and May 18th.
00:27:02 Records showed this phone had not once been switched off in the previous 60 days.
00:27:23 As Hemraj was no longer a suspect, the police named the Talwar's former domestic help, Vishnu
00:27:28 Sharma, as the new suspect.
00:27:30 Vishnu had worked for the Talwars for 10 years.
00:27:33 When he left for a holiday, he introduced Hemraj to the family as his replacement.
00:27:38 When he returned, he found himself out of a job, as the Talwars wanted to keep Hemraj
00:27:43 instead.
00:27:44 The police wondered if he had killed Hemraj in Arushi as a way to get back at Rajesh in
00:27:48 Nupur, but it was later confirmed that he was in Nupur on the day of the murders, and
00:27:52 thus he was exonerated.
00:27:55 The fingers were now pointing at the only other known people in the home, Rajesh and
00:28:00 Nupur Talwar.
00:28:03 There were several theories put forward as to how Rajesh and Nupur could have been involved
00:28:07 in the murders.
00:28:08 The first theory was that Hemraj and Arushi had engaged in some kind of sexual activity.
00:28:14 The police said this could have been consensual or not.
00:28:16 Rajesh had found out and taken his daughter's life in a so-called 'honour killing' and
00:28:21 murdered Hemraj as well.
00:28:23 It is important to note that although the police have stated it could have been consensual,
00:28:28 the age of consent in India is 18 years old, Arushi was a child, and any sexual activity
00:28:33 would have been illegal.
00:28:35 Hemraj's wife however said that her husband had treated Arushi like his own daughter,
00:28:40 and would never have hurt her in any way.
00:28:43 Another theory was that Rajesh had been having an affair and was confronted by his daughter
00:28:48 and blackmailed by Hemraj.
00:28:51 Rajesh had a dental assistant named Krishna Talarai, who was also friends with Hemraj,
00:28:56 and it was later claimed that he was the one who had planted both of these theories.
00:29:01 A few days before the murders, Rajesh admitted to reprimanding Krishna over his work.
00:29:06 Perhaps people thought this is why the theories had been planted.
00:29:11 [Music]
00:29:13 Authorities said they now officially suspected the crimes as being a case of an honour killing.
00:29:25 Dr Rajesh Talwar was placed under arrest for both murders.
00:29:30 The Talwar family refuted all the allegations and said that this was a case of the police
00:29:34 deflecting in an attempt to cover up how badly the investigation had been handled.
00:29:39 They said Rajesh and Nupur were a very progressive and forward-thinking couple, and this wasn't
00:29:43 in any capacity what they believed in.
00:29:46 The former senior editor of English Weekly, Shoma Chowdhury, commented on the cultural
00:29:50 differences between the Talwars and the Noida police, saying the police leapt to the theory
00:29:55 of an honour killing because they couldn't understand the way the Talwars lived their
00:29:58 lives, calling it a "cultural collision".
00:30:02 The Talwar family was very much an urban, cosmopolitan, professional family, whereas
00:30:07 the Noida police came from a much more conservative cultural background, and for them, the idea
00:30:12 of a girl who's allowed this kind of life, who had messages from boyfriends, just that
00:30:17 basic family dynamic, was not something they could understand at all, she said.
00:30:22 The police announced this new development at a fairly poorly put together press conference,
00:30:26 where the Inspector General of Police would even misname Arushi, several times.
00:30:31 The police announced this new development at a fairly put together press conference,
00:30:38 where the Inspector General of Police would even misname Arushi, several times.
00:31:04 They outlined their theories - either Rajesh had killed his daughter and Hemraj after finding
00:31:08 them together, or they had both become caught up in his affair, and he had killed them to
00:31:13 keep his secret.
00:31:19 Authorities also pointed back to a previous statement that Rajesh had made, where he referred
00:31:23 to Hemraj in the past tense on May 16th, a day before his body was found, and, according
00:31:30 to sources, Hemraj confided in some friends that he was scared his life was in danger
00:31:35 because the Talwars suspected him of leaking their family secrets.
00:31:41 But Nupur Talwar would also soon find herself detained.
00:31:45 Opinion was split, with a lot of the public turning against the Talwars, including the
00:31:50 hospital who fired Rajesh immediately, but many others knew how badly the police had
00:31:54 handled this, and how deeply corruption within these sectors could run.
00:31:59 At the request of Rajesh in Nupur, the Central Bureau of Investigation was handed the case
00:32:03 by Noida Police.
00:32:10 The CBI initially believed the parents' innocence, and announced they had three new suspects.
00:32:21 The Talwar's assistant, Krishna Dadarai, and two other servants, Rajkumar Sharma and Vijay
00:32:27 Mandel, were now being investigated, and Krishna was placed under arrest.
00:32:35 Earlier in the day, the CBI had picked up Dr Rajesh Talwar's compounder, Krishna, for
00:32:40 questioning.
00:32:41 He was put through a lie detector test, and sources in the CBI say he was deceptive during
00:32:46 that test.
00:32:47 Krishna worked at Dr Talwar's clinic, and was the one who said that the domestic help
00:32:51 Hemraj had told him that there was a threat to his life.
00:32:55 It's believed to have that the CBI team have got some sort of headway in the investigations,
00:33:03 which is why they have come here also.
00:33:06 Right now, the primary thing for the CBI is to get a sequence of the event constructed,
00:33:11 which the CBI team doesn't seem to be having right now, as tomorrow is another important
00:33:15 day.
00:33:16 On June 13th, a search of Krishna's apartment began.
00:33:19 The three men were subjected to what is known as a narco test.
00:33:23 A narco test involves the injection of sodium pentothal, commonly referred to as truth serum.
00:33:29 This induces a hypnotic or sedated state.
00:33:32 While a narco test may have some validity, it is not totally admissible in court.
00:33:39 While under the drug, Krishna, Rajkumar and Vijay all gave varying accounts, often changing
00:33:45 their individual statements several times over.
00:33:48 During Krishna's test, he hazily gave vague descriptions of places and people, but he
00:33:53 did mention a kukri, the terrace, and even said he was the one to kill Hemraj.
00:33:59 He named other people being at the scene as well, and spoke about their parts in the murders.
00:34:05 But he then went on to say he hadn't committed the crime at all, and the police had been
00:34:09 asking him to take the rap since the start.
00:34:11 [VIDEO PLAYBACK]
00:34:12 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
00:34:13 [END PLAYBACK]
00:34:42 Nonetheless, Krishna said enough for the CBI to, at least on some level, believe there
00:34:47 was a level of legitimacy to what he was talking about.
00:34:50 The CBI now felt that the men may have been let in by Hemraj, hence they found no forced
00:34:56 entry and an attempted sexual assault had been made on Arushi before Hemraj intervened
00:35:01 and the pair ended up dead.
00:35:04 Many others understandably questioned the validity of these confessions, and said the
00:35:08 police and CBI were just desperate to pin the double murder on someone, and had chosen
00:35:13 three people who didn't have the means or finances to defend themselves.
00:35:18 Upon searching Krishna's apartment, initial reports stated that officers had seized a
00:35:22 purple pillowcase along with a kukri.
00:35:26 While the kukri was found to have blood on it, it was not human blood.
00:35:30 A report stated that the presence of Hemraj's DNA was confirmed to have been found on the
00:35:35 purple pillow cover, but later on, the CBI said this was an error.
00:35:40 They said they had mixed up Krishna and Hemraj on the report sheet, and the pillowcase, said
00:35:44 to have come from Krishna's room, had actually come from Hemraj's room instead.
00:35:49 Both Rajesh and Nupur were given lie detector tests, which came back as inconclusive.
00:35:54 A second set of tests did not find any evidence of deception.
00:35:59 At this point, Rajesh, Krishna, Rajkumar and Vijay were all in custody, but the CBI were
00:36:05 keeping very quiet on what was going on.
00:36:08 In July, after 50 days in prison, Rajesh was allowed bail and headed home.
00:36:14 He stated that while in prison he was faced with police threats, trying to force him into
00:36:18 signing confessions, which he never did.
00:36:20 The CBI then handed over the investigation to a new part of the team, which initially
00:36:25 recommended closing the case due to what they called "critical gaps".
00:36:30 But after looking into it more, the new team continued on.
00:36:34 They now felt that the murder weapons were possibly a surgical blade and Rajesh's golf
00:36:38 club.
00:36:39 Forensic experts concluded that the dimensions of the golf club matched the size of the wounds
00:36:44 on both Arushi and Hemraj's heads, although no examination of any golf club was carried
00:36:49 out for almost a year, by which point any DNA the CBI thought it might have was long
00:36:55 gone.
00:36:56 The Talwar family, in fact, said they requested to have various testing done, including touch
00:37:02 DNA.
00:37:03 They asked the CBI to examine everything from kitchen utensils to the golf clubs in question,
00:37:07 but these tests were not carried out, and even if they were, the contamination was likely
00:37:12 too great to determine anything.
00:37:14 [Music]
00:37:21 [Music]
00:37:47 Krishna, Rajkumar and Vijay were all released.
00:37:51 Their alibis had checked out, and the police said they could find no hard evidence against
00:37:55 them.
00:37:56 Any alleged confessions contained too many inconsistencies and could not be relied upon.
00:38:02 No fingerprints or DNA belonging to any of the men could be found inside the apartment,
00:38:06 and there was no evidence of any physical or phone-based interactions between them.
00:38:11 Krishna's family and his landlord stated he was at his house on the night in question.
00:38:16 Vijay Mandal's employer told investigators he was at his garage.
00:38:20 Anita Durrani, who shared the clinic with Rajesh in Nepal, was Rajkumar's employer.
00:38:25 She stated he was present in her house until at least 12.30am.
00:38:29 Police couldn't even find a strong enough link between the three men.
00:38:33 Rajkumar reiterated this and said he didn't even know either of them.
00:38:37 It all seemed highly unlikely to investigators that they could have got into the home and
00:38:42 committed the crimes, all without Rajesh in Nepal or any of the neighbours seeing or hearing
00:38:46 them.
00:38:50 After his release, Vijay Mandal accused the CBI of physical force and threats.
00:38:55 He insisted that the charges against all three were just an attempt to frame them, echoing
00:39:00 what Krishna and Rajkumar had said.
00:39:13 Fifteen months had now passed since the murders and a huge discovery was made on a dirt track.
00:39:18 Arushi's mobile phone, that had been missing since the investigation started, was finally
00:39:24 located.
00:39:25 It had been completely erased.
00:39:27 Hemraj's mobile phone would never be found.
00:39:31 The CBI had no other new suspects and said they were now focused solely on the Talwars.
00:39:39 They believed their evidence was mounting up and that their theories could be backed
00:39:43 up by various findings.
00:39:45 The refusal to provide the terrorist door keys, the hidden liquor cabinet behind the
00:39:49 panel that had been opened, would not have been known to an outsider or intruder.
00:39:54 The seeming lack of emotion displayed, the time it took to phone the police and the fact
00:39:59 that they were just feet away from Arushi's room and heard nothing.
00:40:03 The thoughts that the murder weapons were either a surgical blade or one of Rajesh's
00:40:07 golf clubs, the internet router activity, the crime scene appeared to have been dressed
00:40:12 and it was highly unlikely that an outside intruder would have taken the time to do that
00:40:17 with the couple sleeping in the adjacent room.
00:40:19 There were four people in the home that night and two ended up dead.
00:40:24 Why didn't Rajesh Shinnopur?
00:40:26 The early statement from Rajesh spoke of Hemraj in the past tense, before he was even found
00:40:30 dead.
00:40:31 The request for any mention of sexual activity or sexual assault to be removed from the autopsy.
00:40:36 However, the Talwar's legal counsel said that there was in fact no evidence against
00:40:42 the couple.
00:40:43 Hemraj could have let an outsider in and then locked the door afterwards.
00:40:47 None of Hemraj's blood was found on Rajesh's clothes and if he was the killer, this would
00:40:52 be expected.
00:40:54 No DNA evidence was found on anything they suspected to be a murder weapon and no murder
00:40:58 weapon could be confirmed.
00:41:00 The router had turned on and off throughout the day and this didn't prove anything.
00:41:05 They had many theories and ideas, but no actual solid motive.
00:41:09 No fingerprints or DNA of either Rajesh or Nippur were found on the whiskey bottle.
00:41:15 The size of the shoe print found on the terrace was an 8 or 9, while Rajesh's shoe size was
00:41:20 6.
00:41:21 There were no eyewitnesses.
00:41:23 But with so much evidence either destroyed, contaminated or not analysed sufficiently,
00:41:28 holes in both sides could most definitely be argued.
00:41:31 [Music]
00:41:38 [Music]
00:41:45 [Music]
00:41:52 [Music]
00:41:59 [Music]
00:42:28 The closure report had to be accepted by the courts.
00:42:31 If it was accepted, it meant no charges would be filed against anyone and the case would
00:42:36 be completely closed.
00:42:40 In early 2011, Rajesh and Nippur agreed to do an interview to discuss their thoughts,
00:42:45 the events so far and where they thought the case might go.
00:42:49 How come that you heard no noise?
00:42:52 Are you both very deep sleepers?
00:42:54 Probably kind of deep sleepers.
00:42:56 I mean, I don't know how we didn't hear anything.
00:42:59 What do you think happened?
00:43:01 We really won't like to talk about it right now because we're not really sure about anything.
00:43:08 I think it would be nice if you said, this is what I believe happened.
00:43:12 Well, you see, that would mean pointing fingers at people and I don't want to do that.
00:43:16 No, don't name names.
00:43:17 I know.
00:43:18 Don't name names.
00:43:19 I would rather not say that.
00:43:23 You don't want to build up a sequence yourself.
00:43:27 Not like this.
00:43:28 Where was your compounder trained?
00:43:31 Krishna.
00:43:32 Compounder was trained with me.
00:43:34 What was his full name?
00:43:35 We just called him Krishna.
00:43:38 This Krishna is somebody that you had a row with two days before and he was in the room
00:43:48 of Hemraj, you believe, the night these things happened.
00:43:54 We don't believe it.
00:43:55 We've just been told that at one point of time by the CBI.
00:44:00 We never suspected it.
00:44:01 We never even thought about him.
00:44:03 In fact, when Krishna was arrested, he was still he was within the prison.
00:44:07 Why have they picked on you?
00:44:11 It's very difficult for me to answer that.
00:44:14 I've done every possible thing, whatever was asked for me by the CBI.
00:44:19 You know, it's like saying you're guilty till you're proven innocent and not the other way
00:44:24 round.
00:44:25 We are helpless.
00:44:26 We are frustrated.
00:44:27 We don't know what to do with ourselves.
00:44:28 We don't know what to do with our lives.
00:44:29 We want people to help out us and help us.
00:44:31 If the CBI had submitted a closure report, they have closed the case.
00:44:40 Wouldn't you rather that a case be closed than trouble, trouble until trouble troubles
00:44:46 you?
00:44:47 Absolutely not.
00:44:48 I would never let the case be closed because I know it's not justice for my daughter and
00:44:53 I will not live with it.
00:44:54 I will not live with something which I don't want.
00:44:58 I don't want a closure for myself.
00:44:59 I just want to...
00:45:00 Are you absolutely convinced that it is one of the three servants that it is Krishna?
00:45:06 Again, you know, I don't think I would like to answer that.
00:45:11 But in your heart of hearts, you know that that is where your suspicion is.
00:45:17 It could be.
00:45:18 Yes.
00:45:19 Why would he kill your daughter?
00:45:21 I think this is something which is very difficult for me to start talking about.
00:45:24 It's not fair.
00:45:25 You know, I know it feels like somebody points fingers at me.
00:45:31 I don't want to do that on anybody.
00:45:32 Let the agency, let them get something, let them prove something and then we'll do that.
00:45:36 This is why we're asking for reinvestigation.
00:45:38 Let them find that we don't want to make allegations against anyone.
00:45:41 Could it be anyone other than these three who came through Hemraj's room and went to
00:45:46 Arshi's room?
00:45:48 Not that we know of.
00:45:49 Supposing, Nupur, you have the CBI director sitting here, what would you ask him to do?
00:46:00 There is a palm print on the on the terrace.
00:46:02 I've seen that picture.
00:46:04 Yes.
00:46:05 Which would possibly carry the DNA of the person who was there.
00:46:12 Why does the CBI not do that?
00:46:14 And you believe?
00:46:15 100%.
00:46:16 That if that is done, you will be exonerated?
00:46:20 The right culprits would be caught.
00:46:23 Anybody who is not there would be relieved of that.
00:46:28 How does one feel?
00:46:29 Because I wonder, I feel the same way.
00:46:32 I mean, you feel that here your daughter, whose picture is there behind you, she has
00:46:37 been murdered most brutally and the country and somehow the atmosphere has been created
00:46:44 that the parents are the murderers.
00:46:46 How do you feel about it?
00:46:49 I think it completely breaks you.
00:46:53 You don't get broken.
00:46:54 When there is a, when there is a, that's your way of looking at it.
00:46:59 I mean, what I am inside is not something which I can.
00:47:02 How much we sit and cry every night out here, how much we cry every day we come home.
00:47:07 Where was the key?
00:47:09 Why was the key lost?
00:47:11 The key was, it was not lost when I was almost dropping off to sleep and Rajesh told me to
00:47:17 go and put on the router in the next room.
00:47:19 I kind of woke up from my, I was almost dozing off and I did go into Arushi's room and she
00:47:26 was, she was reading a Chetan Bhagat book in fact and.
00:47:29 She was?
00:47:30 Yeah.
00:47:31 And I put on the router and I said, okay Arushi good night, now you go to sleep and
00:47:34 I walked, pulled back the door and I walked out.
00:47:40 Probably the biggest mistake of my life.
00:47:46 Just two months after the closure report was filed, a trial court actually rejected it
00:47:51 and summoned the couple to explain why they should not be charged with murder, criminal
00:47:55 conspiracy and destruction of evidence.
00:47:59 These charges could carry a potential death penalty.
00:48:02 Rajesh and Nippur's legal teams approached the Allahabad High Court, but their plea was
00:48:06 dismissed.
00:48:07 They then approached the Supreme Court.
00:48:09 They said that while the promise of bail would be upheld, Rajesh and Nippur Talwar were both
00:48:14 expected to appear before the Ghaziabad magistrate to face a trial.
00:48:18 The media who had been out in full force since the beginning were now in a frenzy, as were
00:48:23 members of the public.
00:48:25 On his way to one of the court hearings, Rajesh was even attacked with a knife which left
00:48:29 his face pouring with blood.
00:48:42 The trial, understandably, came with many issues.
00:48:45 Because the crime scene had been so contaminated, putting forward a complete case was very difficult
00:48:50 for the prosecution.
00:48:51 But their theory was this.
00:48:54 Rajesh heard noises coming from Arushi's room.
00:48:57 He picked up a golf club and ran into her room where he found Arushi and Hemraj in an
00:49:01 objectionable but not compromising position on Arushi's bed.
00:49:05 In a fit of rage, Rajesh hit the back of Hemraj's head with the golf club, but when he tried
00:49:09 to hit him a second time, Hemraj moved and Arushi was hit instead.
00:49:13 Nippur then came into Arushi's room, but by this point, both of them were nearly dead.
00:49:18 They then decided to hide Hemraj's body.
00:49:21 They wrapped his body in a bedsheet and dragged him onto the terrace.
00:49:24 After this, they slit his throat.
00:49:27 They went back into Arushi's room and moved things around the crime scene, before slitting
00:49:31 her throat to ensure that the wounds looked similar.
00:49:34 They then cleaned the blood on the floor, collected the bloodstained clothes and the
00:49:37 sharp-edged weapon in order to dispose of them.
00:49:40 They then walked out of the apartment and locked the middle grill door from the outside
00:49:44 before entering the house through Hemraj's room to mislead the investigators.
00:49:49 Ashaykin Rajesh then drank from the whiskey bottle.
00:49:53 The CBI said the calls going back and forth and the alleged attempts to erase any sexual
00:49:58 references from the autopsy report could infer a motive.
00:50:02 KK Gautam took the stand and admitted that although he had been asked to change the report,
00:50:06 he had refused.
00:50:07 Umesh Sharma, Rajesh's driver, was the last known outside person to see Arushi and Hemraj
00:50:13 alive and had helped them to clean up Arushi's room after she was found dead.
00:50:18 He told the court that he had had Rajesh's car serviced around three to four months before
00:50:22 the murders and kept two golf sticks, a wiper and a bucket inside a part of the Talwar's
00:50:28 Noida flat.
00:50:30 He was a key prosecution witness, but was ultimately declared hostile by the court after
00:50:35 he refused to identify the golf clubs.
00:50:37 He said he was forced to sign statements and stated he had been hit by authorities, resulting
00:50:42 in a ruptured eardrum.
00:50:44 The CBI and prosecution argued that no outside intruder would have stuck around long enough
00:50:49 to drink anything from the whiskey bottle with Rajesh and Nupur just feet away.
00:50:54 They would have left very quickly.
00:50:59 Although the prosecution's case rested on circumstantial evidence, they felt it was
00:51:03 strong enough to gain a conviction, but the Talwar's defence team pointed towards the
00:51:07 copious amounts of evidence that had either been destroyed or not analysed.
00:51:12 No witnesses, no clear DNA and no concrete motive.
00:51:17 The prosecution's circumstantial case was deeply flawed, they argued.
00:51:21 The defence still believed that Krishna Thadarai was the one they needed to look at.
00:51:25 They said his narco test in which he had mentioned the terrace and cookery was a huge piece of
00:51:30 evidence.
00:51:31 The bloody whiskey bottle found on the dining table that had not been sufficiently examined
00:51:36 was another piece.
00:51:38 Why would Rajesh and Nupur leave the whiskey bottle there, covered in blood, they asked.
00:51:43 Surely they would have cleaned and concealed this back in the liquor cabinet, which was
00:51:47 hidden to almost everyone, including Krishna.
00:51:50 They argued he could have committed the murders before drinking from the bottle and then having
00:51:54 no choice but to leave it on the table as he didn't know where it belonged.
00:51:58 In regards to Hemraj's DNA on the pillowcase, the defence said there was no credible explanation
00:52:03 as to how this mix-up could have occurred and, once more, threw into question the entire
00:52:08 investigation.
00:52:10 The defence was also quick to point out that Hemraj's blood was not found in Arushi's room
00:52:15 and there would undoubtedly be some if this is where the attack took place.
00:52:19 There were four people in the apartment.
00:52:24 One person is dead on the roof, not in the apartment.
00:52:29 So in the apartment, there were four people slept, one went out, got himself murdered
00:52:35 on the roof.
00:52:37 Only one person has died inside.
00:52:38 The case against Talwars is completely fudged.
00:52:42 It has been propelled.
00:52:44 It has been manufactured.
00:52:46 But your question will not go unanswered.
00:52:49 Who killed the two?
00:52:52 There was evidence with CBI.
00:52:55 They had DNA evidence against an erstwhile set of accused, those Nepali helpers, Krishna
00:53:02 Thaderai, Vijay Mandal, Raj Kumar.
00:53:07 But they suddenly dropped it for reasons attributable to them and started implicating Talwars.
00:53:15 Now we shift our focus to the day's biggest story.
00:53:27 Not just the day's biggest story, perhaps viewers, this is a story that has been making
00:53:31 headlines for very long reasons since the year 2008.
00:53:36 Arushi Talwar's parents, Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar have been convicted for murder
00:53:40 in that case.
00:53:41 I'm trying to get you more details on what exactly that judgment was.
00:53:45 You see pictures from outside the CBI court there, but the news that we can confirm is
00:53:50 both have been convicted for murder.
00:53:53 In November 2013, both Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were found guilty of the murders of Arushi
00:54:00 and Hemraj.
00:54:02 The CBI was seeking the death penalty, but the couple would be sentenced to life in prison.
00:54:08 CBI Judge Shyam Lal said, "The parents are the best protector of their own children,
00:54:13 and that is the order of human nature.
00:54:15 But they have been freaks in the history of mankind, when the father and mother became
00:54:20 the killer of their own progeny."
00:54:22 Rajesh said, "We will fight till the end for Arushi.
00:54:25 I want to ensure her name is cleared.
00:54:28 Today, I want to say Arushi was a good girl.
00:54:31 Hemraj wasn't bad.
00:54:32 You can reverse this statement and it would still hold true."
00:54:36 Sources say that while in prison the couple were well respected and spent some time reviving
00:54:40 the dental department of the prison hospital, helping to treat thousands of patients, all
00:54:45 while refusing any compensation.
00:54:48 Still attracting a huge amount of attention, documentary makers, movie makers and authors
00:54:54 were following the case carefully.
00:54:56 In 2015, the film Talwar premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
00:55:01 Internationally, it was released under the name "Guilty" and was based on the double
00:55:05 murders, showcasing three perspectives to the case.
00:55:09 The filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj and the director Meghna Gulzar researched the case for nearly
00:55:14 two years before making the film.
00:55:17 Another film called Rahasya was released inspired by the case as well.
00:55:21 The Talwar's legal team had filed an appeal against the guilty verdicts and in September
00:55:26 of 2016, the judges of the Allahabad High Court began hearing the appeal.
00:55:31 The Allahabad High Court is the highest court within the state of Uttar Pradesh.
00:55:36 The appeal picked apart housemaid Bharti Mandal's statement, in which she claimed on May 16th
00:55:41 at 6am, the outermost door appeared to be locked from the outside.
00:55:46 They said that the door she was talking about was not actually the door that needed unlocking,
00:55:51 and across examination, Bharti said, "I'm stating whatever is being explained to me,"
00:55:55 which gave the defence more reason to put forward the idea she was repeating what the
00:55:59 police had said to her.
00:56:01 In a later interview with Bharti, when asked if she had touched and tried to push the door
00:56:05 open, she answered no.
00:56:09 The doctors who conducted Arushi and Hemraj's post-mortem examinations admitted they had
00:56:13 also been influenced by the CBI's theories.
00:56:16 The doctor admitted he had never performed an autopsy on a female before.
00:56:20 After almost four years in jail, Nupur and Rajesh Talwar finally walked free from Ghaziabad
00:56:50 police station.
00:57:11 After hearing everything put forward, the court acquitted both Rajesh and Nupur Talwar,
00:57:17 saying the evidence against them was unsatisfactory and that the CBI had failed to prove anything
00:57:22 beyond a reasonable doubt.
00:57:24 They severely criticised the police, CBI and the media for not having investigated and
00:57:30 reported on the murders properly and efficiently.
00:57:53 While acquitting the couple, the High Court likened the trial judge who found them guilty
00:58:15 to a film director trying to thrust coherence into scattered facts.
00:58:20 Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were watched by a huge crowd as they left the Dasna prison in
00:58:24 Ghaziabad, pausing only briefly so reporters could take some pictures.
00:58:29 The couple vowed to come back to the prison every 15 days to continue to help inmates
00:58:33 with any dental issues.
00:58:53 Do you still stand by what you said?
00:59:22 The other two people who could be involved were either the servants or the parents.
00:59:27 The first CBI team, based on NARCO analysis, said that the servants were involved in the
00:59:32 murder.
00:59:33 But that NARCO analysis was a very dubious kind of thing and later on the lady who did
00:59:38 the NARCO analysis, she was, I think, removed from her job in Bangalore.
00:59:45 So they were very controversial, the NARCO analysis and in any case NARCO analysis is
00:59:50 not permissible as evidence in court.
00:59:53 It can only be an aid to investigation.
00:59:55 The second CBI team conclusively proved that the servants had cast iron alibis.
01:00:01 That left us only with the Talwars.
01:00:04 In fact, I was not part of the investigation.
01:00:06 I was only part of the decision making at the end.
01:00:09 You took a decision which the other two directors did.
01:00:12 Because I think they were investigating and the investigations had just been completed
01:00:16 when I joined and I was left to take this decision.
01:00:20 Now it is a very important decision.
01:00:21 I called both the teams.
01:00:22 We had a meeting.
01:00:23 We discussed all the evidence.
01:00:25 So as I said, servants were ruled out, the outsiders were ruled out.
01:00:29 So that only left the Talwar.
01:00:31 In a criminal case, it says beyond all reasonable doubt.
01:00:35 Now there was a lot of gaps which were not being explained in the investigation.
01:00:40 You knew it was inconclusive.
01:00:42 But the CBI during the course of trial, while the closure report which was submitted in
01:00:48 your term went in, said that it is inclusive.
01:00:50 We don't have evidence.
01:00:52 But the CBI actually in court while arguing said the parents did it, the parents did it
01:00:56 and they described it in great detail.
01:00:58 They said that Hemraj was in the room and how the golf and how he died because of the
01:01:03 golf club and things like that.
01:01:04 So that means that the CBI actually, you know, let the court, let the court on.
01:01:09 No, no.
01:01:10 I think they were just giving all the facts which were there in our final report.
01:01:15 We had given a lot of material which showed that it's possible that the Talwars have committed
01:01:22 this crime.
01:01:23 But there is no other possibility if you rule out outsiders and if you rule out servants.
01:01:28 This is my personal opinion.
01:01:29 I have always stood by my opinion even in the further meetings that the parents are
01:01:34 not guilty.
01:01:35 A little less than a year later, the CBI challenged the acquittal in the Supreme Court.
01:01:41 Which has now gone in an appeal and the Supreme Court has today accepted that appeal.
01:01:45 It will be a time consuming process.
01:01:47 And remember criminal trials in the Supreme Court, unless there is a matter of grave urgency,
01:01:52 since they are only appellate in nature, do not progress at a great speed.
01:01:56 Remember Supreme Court is a constitutional court.
01:01:59 Hemraj's wife Kamkhala was also devastated and approached the Supreme Court saying, "The
01:02:04 focus has always been the death of Arushi.
01:02:07 No one talks about justice for my husband."
01:02:09 I want the Supreme Court to do justice for me.
01:02:13 That's why I came here.
01:02:15 I think it's a good thing.
01:02:17 I don't want the case to be delayed.
01:02:21 The Supreme Court will give us justice.
01:02:24 I want the CBI to file a case against me.
01:02:28 I want them to go to the Supreme Court and give me justice.
01:02:35 These challenges will be long processes.
01:02:39 Despite the acquittal, many still believe that Rajesh and Nupur were at the centre of
01:02:43 what had happened that night.
01:02:45 And if the investigation hadn't been so poorly handled, which left room to create doubts,
01:02:50 they would have remained in prison.
01:02:52 Some feel it was a witch hunt from the get-go and a trial by media, arguing that the couple
01:02:57 were framed and never had a chance to properly defend themselves before the fingers started
01:03:01 pointing at them.
01:03:04 Others think that the answers and the truth lies with Krishna, Rajkumar and Vijay, or
01:03:09 someone else unknown to the police.
01:03:13 Others think that the investigation was so badly handled that it's impossible to believe
01:03:17 anything about anyone for certain.
01:03:20 Which brings us to now, 2022.
01:03:23 To this day, the case remains officially unsolved.
01:03:30 Fizzer said Arushi's murder has almost become a folk tale, a story that has been reworded
01:03:34 and changed so many times that people have forgotten about Arushi as a person.
01:03:39 In a blog post she said, "The night of the murder has been almost written, rewritten,
01:03:45 twisted and confused so much that eventually you just believe one version for the sake
01:03:50 of convenience."
01:03:51 But how were the stories written without a shred of evidence, and without questioning
01:03:55 logic or legitimacy?
01:03:58 There was never any compulsion for me to believe in the culpability of the Talwars or in their
01:04:03 innocence.
01:04:04 They were not my relatives, not even family friends.
01:04:08 Arushi though, was my best friend, my classmate, my dance partner.
01:04:12 I had known her from the age of five.
01:04:15 She was the first friend I had made in school.
01:04:17 But I believed in their innocence because I knew what I knew.
01:04:21 But I also know that murders are not solved by one's belief.
01:04:25 You need hard evidence, you need proof.
01:04:28 But that didn't seem to be the case here.
01:04:30 I saw things unfold from day one and I also saw the entire process of the case being handled
01:04:36 with complete ineptitude, the media hawking like vultures, contorting facts and information
01:04:42 from the very morning and sensationalising the entire incident dangerously.
01:04:47 The girl I read about on the news and the parents she had were not real people.
01:04:52 They were fictional characters created out of some collective imagination.
01:04:58 One thing is for sure, it seems that this is one of those cases that will forever be
01:05:02 hard if not impossible to separate fact from fiction and rumours from truth.
01:05:09 The same questions still remain.
01:05:12 What really happened on May 16th 2008?
01:05:16 Who killed Arushi Talwar and Hemraj Banjad?
01:05:20 Why were they killed and will the case ever reach a conclusion?
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