Introduction:
“Justice is never given; it is exacted” are the words said by A. Philip Randolph, an American politician. These words fit perfectly true on those murder mysteries around the world that don’t have any killer, it may be possible that by reading this line you may start thinking about cases involving murder committed in lieu of private defence, by an insane or a minor person (concerning certain conditions), where consent is already given and taken, by a grave and sudden provocation, or in the exercise of legal power (ex- an executioner), etc. but I am not talking about any of these situations, the point which I want to put out is about the cases where investigating agencies may be due to their inefficiency or due to too much caution on part of murderers were unable to find the murderers and solve the mysteries of this heinous crime.
Although, with efficient criminals, our investigation system is also getting advanced, (for example- by the inclusion of lie-detector tests, narco-analysis tests, brain mapping tests, various other tracking systems, etc.) but still the justice remains undelivered, it is so because these pieces of evidence only have corroborative value and are not considered as conclusive in itself in India. Moreover, the concept of proving a criminal case beyond a reasonable doubt also creates hindrances in accusing the alleged murderers as real culprits.
To discuss in detail all these things which somewhere results in delay or miscarriage of justice lets go through the Aarushi Talwar and Hemraj Murder Case of Noida because this case is the one where even after narco-analysis test, the investigation by CBI (supreme investigation agency) and various other theories of crime the murderers of these twin murder couldn’t be found only because the case was not proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Although various suspects and accused were there in this case but still none of them is found guilty.
Facts of the Case
1. Pool of Blood (Discovery of Aarushi and Khemraj’s Murder on 16th and 17th May)
The national capital was as usual busy with their day-to-day work but when the news of the murder of a 13-year-old-girl came into the news with the main suspect as a male live-in domestic worker who was missing the capital became unsettled but this story in real gain publicity as a whodunnit when it was found that the prime suspect was himself lying dead on the roof of the apartment. According to the post-mortem reports, the death of both of them has caused between 12:00 AM and 01:00 AM. Before 9 PM on 15th May it was found that both of the parents were busy performing their jobs as doctors in Hauz Khas clinic which they share with their close friends (the Durrani’s) and in Fortis Hospital (Aarushi’s mother works as a doctor) and in ITS Dental College (Aarushi’s father work as a professor).
After 9 PM till 12 AM, the parents returned home and gifted a camera that Aarushi wanted for so long to Aarushi, and after this, the parents retired to their room leaving Aarushi on her own. At 11:00 PM Nupur visited Aarushi’s room and that was the last time before the murder when she saw her.[1] What happened after midnight is not exactly clear but known to all of us. On 17th May when Aarushi’s parents were in Haridwar, the terrace’s door was broken because keys were missing and the partially decomposed body of Hemraj was found covered by the roof cooler panel near an external unit of AC.
2. The Suspects and Possible Narratives Behind Them
The prima facie accused suspected by the investigation team was the missing domestic servant Hemraj but later when he was found dead on the terrace the police have to face great embarrassment. After Hemraj, previous workers (Vishnu Sharma) were suspected by the police because he was fired from his job only because of Hemaraj and to take revenge from him he murdered him and Aarushi because she may be an only witness. But the police were not able to find any evidence of his and other workers’ involvement as it was proved that they were in Nepal on the date of the incident.
After previous workers, Aarushi’s parents were suspected as prime accused of committing murder and covering it up as well. The story plotted by the investigating agency was that either because Aarushi was found in an objectionable but not compromising position with Hemraj (also became very relevant for yellow journalism) or because Hemraj started blackmailing Rajesh regarding his extra-marital affair, which later came into the knowledge of Aarushi and also, confronted by her to him.
When these two plots of the stories resulted in huge criticism of police by Talwar’s friends and relatives than to handle the situation, the case was transferred to C.B.I, according to whom the other servants and assistants of the Talwar’s ( Krishna Thadarai, Rajkumar, and Vijay Mandal) were the accused. After which all of them went through narco-analysis and the acceptance of certain facts (including acceptance of murdering both Aarushi and Hemaraj by Krishna) increased suspicion of murdering these three but since the statements given during narco-analysis are not considered conclusive, all of them left innocent. The story concocted about their involvement was that they have murdered the two because their attempt to commit sexual assault and killing Aarushi was witnessed by Hemaraj.
In 2009, when the case was transferred to another team they filed a closure report based on non-coherency in evidence and the impossibility of finding real murderers and disposing of the case. This report was opposed by the Talwar’s which subsequently was upheld by the court and the order of proceedings against Talwar’s was also ordered.
3. Investigation
Botched-Up Investigation
From the very initial stages of the crime, the police were seen as less active with the investigation. When they first visited Talwar’s house for investigating Aarushi’s murder case about 16 people were already present in the house. It was also seen that at the time of discovery of Hemaraj’s murder police didn’t cease the area and a large number of people including media persons were roaming here and there all over the terrace. Later, the instances of tampering with pieces of evidence[2], improper recording of fingerprints, not recording of victims’ fingerprints[3] and not able to find out the mobile phones of the victim which disappeared after the respective murders within proper time[4] added to the inefficiency of the investigating agencies.
Weapons or Pieces of Evidence Used by Murderer
a. The blunt object used as weapon
It was found in the post mortem reports of both the victims that a sharp-edged heavy weapon has been used to inflict a U/V shaped scar, according to forensic scientists the blood clot mark on Aarushi’s head shows that she died within 2 minutes of getting hit above her left eye on her forehead. A similar mark was found on the back of Hemaraj’s head also. It was claimed by CBI that this weapon should be Rajesh’s golf stick because the distance by which injury was inflicted was similar to that of the length of the golf stick.[5] Although the same has been rebutted by Talwar’s lawyer.
b. The Nepali knife or kurki
This weapon was used to slit the throats of the victims but it was never found by the investigating authorities.[6] It was also said by the forensic scientists that the slit displays “clinical precision” because the slit was on the correct point, cutting the windpipe and dissecting the artery which carries oxygenated blood to the brain. Although earlier it was argued that the weapon could be a surgical knife but later the arguments of the defence lawyer bring out that kukri was used.
Judgement of the Court
The Special Judge of Special CBI court on 25th November 2013, Jt. Shyam Lal, convicted the Talwar’s guilty for misleading probe, filing false FIR, destroying pieces of evidence, and mainly for the murder of their daughter and the domestic servant. The life imprisonment was awarded by the court to both of them for double murders based on the circumstantial evidence that there is no proof of someone entering the house has been found so the parents who were already present in the house would have committed the murder.
On 12th October 2017, both of the accused were acquitted by the High Court because the pieces of evidence that are collected by the investigation agency (CBI) are not sufficient to convict the accused as they are not able to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the murder was committed by them or not and their conviction merely based on suspicion should not be upheld because the benefit of the doubt should be awarded to them.
On 8th March 2018, an appeal has been filed by CBI in Supreme Court, against the order passed by High Court, which has been accepted by the Supreme Court.
Conclusion
The unsolved twin-murder mystery of Noida has been one such case where both inefficiencies at the part of investigating agencies and vigilance of the murderers resulted in the miscarriage of justice. The above-discussed facts and judgments of courts including inadmissibility of narco-analysis test as conclusive proof, the circumstantial evidence, and benefit of doubt somewhere show that in criminal matters the evidence plays a very important role and to collect adequate and necessary pieces of evidence the efficiency of investigation is highly important which was missing in this case and somewhere this fact was also admitted by CBI when they filed a closure report.
To correct such inefficiency of our investigation agencies an efficient check and balance system is highly required, for every mistake on part of police authorities a proper mechanism for providing punishments should be made instead of promoting investigation by higher authorities of police itself.
References:
[1]A.G.L. Kaul, CBI’s Closure Report,OUTLOOK THE FULLY LOADED MAGAZINE, (10 February 2011) https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/cbis-closure-report/270396
[2] Soni Sangwan, Aarushi: Pathologist denies charges, India Today (8 September 2009, 06:55 PM), https://www.indiatoday.in/top-stories/story/aarushi-pathologist-denies-charges-56053-2009-09-08
[3] Aarushi’s fingerprints were not taken: Key witness, Rediff.com. (June 21, 2012 10:25 PM) https://www.rediff.com/news/report/aarushis-fingerprints-were-not-taken-key-witness/20120621.htm
[4] Telecom staff depose in Aarushi case, The Times of India, (8 November 2012) http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-11-08/delhi/34993517_1_aarushi-hemraj-murder-case-nupur-talwar-aarushi-case
[5] A.G.L. Kaul, CBI’s Closure Report,OUTLOOK THE FULLY LOADED MAGAZINE, (10 February 2011) https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/cbis-closure-report/270396
[6] Avirook Sen, The curious case of a scalpel that was never seized or found, Mumbai Mirror, (1 November 2013), https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/crime/The-curious-case-of-a-scalpel-that-was-never-seized-or-found/articleshow/25336225.cms
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