Ghaziabad:
The much-anticipated trial of Rajesh and Nupur Talwar in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case began today in Ghaziabad court with the examination of three prosecution witnesses. The trial commenced a day after the Supreme Court dismissed the Talwars' plea to quash the ongoing trial proceedings against them. Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, who are both dentists, are accused of killing their 14-year-old daughter Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj at their home in a Delhi suburb in May 2008. The next hearing will take place on June 21.
On day one of the trial, three witnesses recorded their statements, including the police photographer who took photos of the crime scene and the fingerprint expert from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory. Noida Police Constable Chunni Lal Gautam told in his statement that there were some blood spots on wall next to the bed where Arushi was found dead. But there were no blood spots on the soft toys and small pillow near the dead body. CBI has claimed Mr Gautam's testimony indicates dressing up of the crime scene. It also accused Mr Talwar of trying to mislead the investigators by pointing them in the direction of Hemraj.
AD Saha, Senior Scientific Officer of Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) deposed before the CBI court to give his statement in the case. CFSL has submitted 36 articles seized during investigations, which mainly includes scotch bottle, golf stick and club, pillow, part of mattress, keys and other things from Talwars house, and pillow from Hemraj's room, pillow cover from Krishna's room, T-shirt from Rajkumar's room and Arushi's mobile phone.
The CBI said that Hemraj and Aarushi were killed with "surgical precision" and has suggested that this reflects the guilt of the medically-trained Talwars. However the murder weapon has not been found yet.
Vijay Kumar, an official of Noida Electricity board, also testified about the electricity situation on the intervening night of 15/16 May 2008 at the Talwar residence when the incident happened.
Aaurshi was found with her throat slit on the night of May 16, 2008, a few days short of her 14th birthday. Mr Talwar told the Noida police that Hemraj was missing. The Nepalese domestic help became the prime suspect and the police dispatched search teams to locate him at his village. However, a few hours later, Hemraj was found dead on the Talwars' terrace.
The Talwars had earlier appealed to the Supreme Court to dismiss their trial, ordered by the CBI court in Ghaziabad. They are accused of murder and destruction of evidence. Mr Talwar faces an additional charge of deliberately misleading the court. However, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Nupur and Rajesh Talwar will stand trial for the double murder.
The Supreme Court was the last stop for the Talwars in their effort to have the case against them dismissed. The couple says that the CBI, which has been investigating the case, is pinning the double-murder on them because it has not been able to find the real killer. The evidence against them is circumstantial. The CBI believes that a golf club recovered from their home in Noida matches the injuries found on the victims. The fact that the house was not broken into on the night of the murders suggests that the couple is responsible, the agency has said in court.
Mrs Talwar was arrested on April 30 and has been in a jail in Dasna since then. Mr Talwar, who was arrested a week after the double murders and released two months later for lack of evidence, is on bail that was sanctioned a few months ago by the Supreme Court. The CBI has appealed to the Allahabad High Court to cancel his bail.