Nine years after Aarushi Talwar was found dead in her bedroom and four years after a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court convicted her parents of double murder, the Talwar household finally had a reason to rejoice on Thursday.
“We are thankful to the judiciary,” said Aarushi’s grandfather B.G. Chitnis, welcoming the Allahabad High Court verdict acquitting Rajesh and Nupur Talwar. “We have suffered tremendously over the last few years and now it has finally been proven that Rajesh and Nupur are not guilty.”
‘A trying period’
With the innumerable twists and turns in the investigation that dragged on for close to a decade, the verdict came as a huge relief for the family. “It was very trying and exhausting. We are deeply grateful to the judiciary and relieved. I would like to thank all those who supported us through the long ordeal,” said Aarushi’s aunt Vandana Talwar.
Throughout these years, there had been many who were confident of the dentist couple’s innocence.
“I sincerely wish and hope that one day the true perpetrators are convicted,” said Rajeshwari Sahay, Aarushi’s friend from school. “For those of us who knew the family personally, we always had firm faith in their innocence. However, the real justice for the double murder is still pending. Is it really another case of ‘No One Killed..?’ ”
Saahil Sarin was 16 years old when the murder of Aarushi Talwar hit the headlines. Rajesh Talwar was his family dentist. “The media was too quick to paint them as murderers. A lot was said about their personal lives, which upset all the people who knew them,” he said.
‘Murderer is still out’
“Allahabad High Court restores my faith in judiciary. Our judicial system should learn a lesson from the Aarushi verdict. Took nine years to just establish who is innocent. The murderer is still out,” tweeted the handle called Innocent Talwars, that has relentlessly advocated their innocence.
As the Talwar couple are set to walk free on Friday, Nupur Talwar’s father, a former Indian Air Force officer, said: “They have really suffered. At my age, it was very trying to see my daughter behind bars.”