A judge found an Indian dentist couple guilty yesterday of slitting the throats of their teenage daughter and a servant after a murder trial that obsessed India for years, a lawyer said.
“They have been found guilty of murder. They have been found guilty of the destruction of evidence,” Manoj Kumar Rai, who was inside the court to hear the judge’s verdict, told reporters.
Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were charged with killing Aarushi, 14, and Nepalese employee Hemraj Banjade by slitting their throats “with clinical precision” at their home in an affluent New Delhi suburb in 2008.
The couple burst into tears when judge Shyam Lal read out the verdict in a packed court room in Ghaziabad, a city just outside the capital.
“We are deeply disappointed, hurt and anguished for being convicted for a crime that we have not committed. We refuse to feel defeated and will continue to fight for justice,” the Talwars said in a written statement given to reporters outside.
The couple face life in prison and possibly the death penalty when the judge hands down his sentence today.
Investigators allege Aarushi was killed in a fit of rage when her parents found her with the 45-year-old domestic servant in an “objectionable” situation, while the couple have insisted they are victims of police incompetence and a media witchhunt.
The case has spawned a nation of armchair detectives debating every twist in investigation, turned the Talwars into household names, and polarized public opinion.
The prosecution has conceded there was no forensic or material evidence against the couple, basing its case solely on the “last-seen theory” — which holds that the victims were last seen with the accused.
Aarushi was found dead on her bed one morning in May 2008.
Police initially blamed the missing Hemraj — only to discover his decomposing body on the roof a day later.
His throat was also cut and he had a head wound.
Officers then arrested Rajesh Talwar’s Nepalese dental assistant along with two other local servants — Hemraj’s friends — but they were all later released because of a lack of hard evidence.
The botched probe — investigators failed to seal the crime scene, allowing neighbors and relatives to swarm over it, or to find the second body for more than 24 hours — prompted police to close the case in 2010, citing no substantial evidence.
The Talwars then insisted they wanted the killers found and petitioned the court to reopen the case — but found themselves charged with murder.
Lurid newspaper reports, often based on quotes from unnamed police officers, appeared about their lives, demonizing them as decadent and unrepentant, even part of a wife-swapping club.
The defence team, led by one of India’s best-known criminal lawyers who is representing the Talwars for free, believes the frenzied media coverage and the bungled investigation have badly undermined the chances of justice.
“The big mathematical equation for the prosecution is two people died so the other two people in the house must have done it,” lawyer Rebecca John said. “They refuse to admit the possibility of an outsider.”
John believes that “in any other country, such third-rate evidence would not have seen the light of day” and said that a “guilty verdict would shame India’s justice system.”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
RISING TENSIONS: The nations’ three leaders discussed China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful behavior in the South China Sea,’ and agreed on the importance of continued coordination Japan, the Philippines and the US vowed to further deepen cooperation under a trilateral arrangement in the face of rising tensions in Asia’s waters, the three nations said following a call among their leaders. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and outgoing US President Joe Biden met via videoconference on Monday morning. Marcos’ communications office said the leaders “agreed to enhance and deepen economic, maritime and technology cooperation.” The call followed a first-of-its-kind summit meeting of Marcos, Biden and then-Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington in April last year that led to a vow to uphold international
US president-elect Donald Trump is not typically known for his calm or reserve, but in a craftsman’s workshop in rural China he sits in divine contemplation. Cross-legged with his eyes half-closed in a pose evoking the Buddha, this porcelain version of the divisive US leader-in-waiting is the work of designer and sculptor Hong Jinshi (洪金世). The Zen-like figures — which Hong sells for between 999 and 20,000 yuan (US$136 to US$2,728) depending on their size — first went viral in 2021 on the e-commerce platform Taobao, attracting national headlines. Ahead of the real-estate magnate’s inauguration for a second term on Monday next week,
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS