Allahabad High Court acquits Talwars in Aarushi murder case

Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, who have been serving jail time since November 2013 for the murder of their daughter, Aarushi, were found not guilty by the Allahabad High Court and were acquitted. The court said that the conviction cannot be based on suspicion. The court also mentioned that the Talwars must be given the benefit of doubt.

However, the judgment is likely to be challenged by the CBI in Supreme Court.

Aarushi's was a case that rattled the country and continued to haunt investigators, law enforcement officers and civilians alike. Although the prime suspects were put behind bars, there still are fractions of the society that are willing to believe that there is much more than what meets the eye in this case. On May 16, 2008, 14-year old Aarushi was found in dead in the bedroom, at her house in Jalvayu Vihar, Noida. Her throat was slit and her head was bludgeoned. The first and immediate suspect was the house help, Hemraj, who was missing from the scene.
 
However, when Hemraj was found dead on the terrace, lying in a pool of blood, it threw all the theories and suspects askew. He was found in a similar manner and the door to the terrace was found locked from inside. Naturally, the Noida police deduced that it was an inside job. Soon, Delhi police joined forces to crack the case.
 
A week after her body was found, investigators suspected that Aarushi and Hemraj were victims of honour killings and the parents, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar came under scrutiny. The Noida-based dentists were alleged to have killed their daughter when they found her in an 'objectionable position' with the help, Hemraj.
 
On May 23, Rajesh Talwar was arrested for the murders. The case was then handed over to CBI.

After two months, Rajesh Talwar was released on bail. Narco-analysis tests were carried on the Talwars. In December, 2010, CBI closed the case and cleared all the servants and associates who were investigated as suspects throughout the investigation process but Rajesh Talwar was named as the prime suspect. CBI could not charge him for murder because they did not find enough evidence to convict him.
 
The court refused to close the case and on November 25, 2013, CBI judge convicted the Talwars for murder and destruction of evidence. The judge called them freaks and killer of their own progeny.
 
The court sentenced them to life imprisonment. The couple challenged the court's verdict and filed an appeal in the Allahabad High Court.

In 2015, a video surfaced on YouTube that shows Krishna, Rajesh Talwar's assistant at the clinic, saying that the former joint director of the CBI team, Arun Kumar, asking him to confess to the crime and in turn receiving a reduced sentence.

The division bench presiding over the case, fixed today, October 12, 2017 as day of the verdict. The presiding bench pronounced the verdict at 2:45 pm.