AARUSHI
April 28, 2020POST LECTIO : A CASE THAT SHOOK THE NATION
Title : Aarushi
Author : Avirook Sen
Year : 2015
Genre. : Non-Fiction /True Crime
Summary: An account of the 2008 Noida Double Murder case of Aarushi Talwar and Hemraj Banjade, Talwar’s hired domestic help.
Aarushi Talwar, the name that haunts the nation even after more than a decade of her death. She was the daughter of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, who were both Dentists by profession. When the news was first broadcasted in television, it was reported that Hemraj, the hired domestic help, was the suspect and was missing, people were dismayed. The news of the murder of a teenage girl was too much to bear. The parents, they were shocked by the audacity of the suspect and everybody wanted see Hemraj hanged. But the case took a turn for the worse when Hemraj’s body was found the next day on the house’s terrace. Till this point, the case was watertight, but from here it became a caricature of itself and case fell apart. The police investigation proved pointless, evidences were tampered, people changed their statements in courts, CBI was called in, and finally in a strange twist of fate, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, the parents of Aarushi were sentenced for life for the crime.
This book by the journalist Avirook Sen sheds some light on this complicated case. He has made thorough studies about the case as well as about the Talwars to write this book. He has interviewed many key people related to the case.
The book is divided into three parts,
Part I - The Investigation,
Part II - The Trial,
Part III - The Dasna Diaries.
Part I gives us a detailed account of the investigation. According to Avirook Sen, the investigation was not a honest or proper one. The Police failed to act neutral. They were very lethargic in enquiring and collecting evidences, which lead to the case being handed to the CBI. Even though the CBI were very serious regarding the case, they could not find any conclusive evidence. But somehow the charge-sheet was filed and the case went for Trial.
Part II, as the name suggests focuses on the Trail. The author attended every single day of the Trial which was held at the Allahabad High Court, where he felt the Talwars did not face fair trail. The people testifying contradicted their own statements, the Judges were in a hurry to finish the case. After all the drama, the Judge found the parents guilty and gave them both life sentences at the Dasna Jail, Ghaziabad.
Part III, it is the more interesting part of the book because it gives the readers a glimpse of the lives of the Talwars after their imprisonment, how they face their hardships. Rajesh Talwar had set up a dentist office inside the prison and treats the other inmates.
Overall, Avirook Sen paints rather a grey shade of the parents. He says that had the investigations been proper, and the parents been offered a fair trial, the judgement may have been drastically different.
In 2017, the Allahabad High Court, acquitted the Talwars of all charges. In 2018, the CBI challenged the acquittal in the Supreme Court, and as of yet the Supreme has accepted the CBI’s appeal.
“The whole truth is a luxury. In case you are looking for it, a courtroom isn’t the place to either start or end the search.”
- Avirook Sen, Aarushi
Written By: Gautham Selvarajan
Post Lectio is a series where we present a spoiler-free review of the books we read.
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