Hercule Poirot, the famed detective creation of Agatha Christie, while working on different murder stories, often muses that there should be a pattern. Very true, there should be a pattern.
Moreover, I feel that in every murder case, each and every one , except the person dead, is a suspect and thus calls for a through investigation. There has to be a very STRONG MOTIVE before one human being decides to take the life of another unless he/she is diabolical or suffering form severe psychological disorders. Rest of the details is more or less a matter of system.
Much water has flown since the eventful night of May 15th 2008. UP Police initially handled the case and within a few days announced that the parents were involved. Later on though CBI more or less exonerated the parents of the charge but now SC, upon the insistence of the same CBI, has ordered that Talwars have to stand the trial.
Of course the trials /investigations , if ordered again, will be for a murder that happened three and a half years ago. It will depend upon a lot of secondary sources. Moreover, the media had over played its role by interfering in every aspect of investigation. That did not help the cause either.
I am an avid follower of crime related stories and to some extent, like to study about criminal psychology. The mind and logic behind every crime is worth a read.
So, here I try to understand the Aarushi murder case and also the different aspects of it.
The first action which somewhat confused me was the quick announcement that talwars are responsible. Though here it is important to note that till the time Hemraj’s body was discovered, police thought he was the murderer. So, here I raise a few points-
1) The most pertinent question in any murder case- MOTIVE. Who benefits from the death of the person? Often there is a monetary angle in it. Was Aarushi going to inherit some wealth and upon her death, it was to be passed on the parents. NO. then what else could be the motive.
Here we need to understand that Aarushi was the ONLY child of their parents. People said they were loving parents, so is it humanly possible for any parents to kill their only child? Even the most pressing reason will not make a parent take way the life pf their own creation.
2) Another reason given for justifying the arrest of Talwars was the way Aarushi was killed. Apparently, the way she was killed resembled a surgical precision. So? Is it enough to needle the suspicion on the parents as they too were doctors. Were they really so stupid to have killed Aarushi in such a medical way, so as to enable everyone suspect them. Isn’t it possible that the person who killed (who was of course a hard core one) did it intentionally to point the needle of suspicion at the parents?
3) The third most absurd and yet, as per police, a convincing reason was that it was a honour killing! Whose honour! Has any one come forward till date to give evidence that there was a trouble brewing at home and the fact that a 14 year old kid was having an affair with a 45 year old domestic help. Isn’t it a mere conjecture, that too a weak one but enough for the police to arrest the father. Then media did its job.
Herein, again the emotional angle comes in. even if there was a slight truth in the so called affair of Aarushi with Hemraj, was it a reson for the highly educated parents to take away the life of their daughter? IF at all someone were to be killed, perhaps they would have killed the servant and perhaps ensured that the death looks like an accident, so as to not make Aarushi develop any strong emotions against them.
4) There are some strong points to be considered.
A) As per the people present, Talwars cooperated with the police and provided all the possible help but seems the police was in a hurry.
B) Hemraj had prepared dinner for him too but did NOT eat? Why? When do you not eat what you have prepared- when some bocy suddenly comes in? so did some one come that night to the house.
C) As per CBI 1st report there was a 5th person present and apparently drinks were consumed but surprisingly the police did not take the finger prints from the bottle! But surprisingly, the CBI 2nd report said that there was NO fifth person. Is CBI sure of what it is saying?
5) There was no clothes of Talwars found which had blood in it. Here, it is important to note that the driver said that whichever dress dr. Talwar was wearing the previous evening, he was wearing the same next day morning and there was NO blood in it.
6) How could police find the dead body of Hemraj bang 24 hours after the discovery of Aarushi’s death? Doesn’t this raise question mark on their abilities and we are expected to accept the report of such a ‘capable’ police team!
7) Had the parents been involved, they could have stayed outside at some friends place for the night (as a alibi) and yet get a professional to do the job. It is not easy to kill your own child, you know. Did they do anything of such kind. Was it their fault that they slept in the night (when every normal person does) and two murders happened in their home?
Doesn’t the above points indeed raise a question mark on the so called involvement of the Talwars BUT the murder has indeed been committed, so there has to be a murderer! So I would like to look at the following angles
Angle 1) It was definitely not robbery, so is it possible that of the two, one murder was accidental? I mean it was not supposed to be committed but got committed? I ask this question because apparently Hemraj got killed first, so is it possible Aarushi saw who killed Hemraj and then the murderer in a state of panic killed her? But yet, why would he kill her with such precision. Because, any other way, it would have created sound and perhaps Talwars would have woken up.
Now this raises the question that did Aarushi know the murderer since she did not create any noise. Is it that the murderer was amongst the group of people she knew. Here, I would like to add that there were two more Nepalese who were working for Talwars/their friends.
Angle 2) this is to support the first angle but with a difference. Is it possible that Hemraj knew something too disturbing for comfort to Talwars and he needed to be silenced? So a killer is arranged, given the keys and he does the job and as a matter of chance, Aarushi wakes up, and the murderer kills her too?
Angle 3) Some psychological aspect – herein I mean that is it possible that there was some one in the friends circle of Aarushi who may have been involved. The friend too might have been a kid but we know of stories where kids, influenced by TV or some psychological stress, kill people. Was it that Aarushi complained to some friend about Hemraj and the friend decided to take matters upon his /her hands and perhaps after the murder of Hemraj, Aarushi got scared and the murderer , getting panicky, killed Aarushi too? Did police / CBI question the friends/ school teachers / neighbours of Aarushi?
There have been lots of theories including an extra marital affair that Dr. Ramesh Talwar was having with one of his colleagues. So? Yet, it doesn’t create a connect strong enough to suspect Dr. Ramesh Talwar. Moreover, in this case the parents have been shouting from the roof top asking for CBI investigation! They want justice for her daughter.
Yes on the night of May 15th 2008, there was madness in the Talwar household but there was no method in it or as Poirot says, “there was no pattern in it”
I am sure both Delhi Police / CBI has brilliant officers and perhaps there brilliance can be used before the verdict is drawn. They have to do their work as they can’t ask “where are you, Poirot?”
