After trying times, Talwar family relieved lot

New Delhi, October 12

The nine-year trial in the murder of their daughter Aarushi had left the Talwar couple emotionally drained, Nupur Talwar’s father said today, thanking the judiciary for acquitting them.

BG Chitnis, a former group captain in the Indian Air Force, said it was very trying for him to see his daughter Nupur and her husband Rajesh behind bars.

“I am grateful to the judiciary for the verdict. They (the Talwar couple) have really suffered. They are emotionally drained. At my age it was very trying to see my daughter behind bars,” he said.

Vandana Talwar, Aarushi’s aunt, said the entire family had suffered for nearly a decade as the case dragged on. “It was very exhausting and trying,” she said.

She refused to go into the merits of the judgment, saying the couple’s lawyers would answer questions on who killed Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj.

“We are really grateful to the high court for having acquitted Rajesh and Nupur and brought an end to injustice meted out to them. I would like to thank all the people who supported us through the long ordeal — our family, friends, team of lawyers and people who were not even known to us before this tragedy happened," she said.

Masuma, a family friend of the Talwars, said with the verdict, a nine-year ordeal had come to an end. However, she added that investigation agencies still have to crack the puzzle of who killed Aarushi and Hemraj.

The Allahabad High Court today acquitted the Talwar couple, saying they could not be held guilty on the basis of the evidence on record.

A division Bench of the court comprising Justices BK Narayana and AK Mishra upheld the appeals by the Talwars against the Ghaziabad CBI court order sentencing them to life imprisonment on November 26, 2013.

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars’ Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45-year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house a day later. — PTI

‘Couple suffered’

"I am grateful to the judiciary for the verdict. They (the Talwar couple) have really suffered. They are emotionally drained. At my age it was very trying to see my daughter behind bars" — Group Capt BG Chitnis, Nupur’s father

‘It was Exhausting’

"The entire family had suffered for nearly a decade. It was very exhausting and trying… I would like to thank all the supporters who supported us through the long ordeal" — Vandana Talwar, Aarushi’s aunt

‘No credible proof’

"The entire case was based on innuendos and assumptions. There was no credible proof against the couple. The CBI conducted it in a manner which is not becoming of a probe agency" — Rebecca John, Talwars’ lawyer