STORY: "Aarushi Talwar murder: A family reels from the impact of the guilty verdict," by Shree Paradkar, published by the Toronto Star on November 25, 2013.
SUB-HEADING: "When two married dentists were convicted Monday of killing their 13-year-old daughter and the family's housekeeper, it caused shock and anger among those related to them."
GIST: "Shock. Rage. Disillusionment. My cousin Nupur Talwar and her husband, Rajesh, were convicted Monday in India of murdering their only child Aarushi and trusted cook, Hemraj. Just this weekend, they were so hopeful. Nupur had a bit of a cough, but she and Rajesh thought they had a fighting chance. “Whether we’re acquitted or convicted, we have to keep on fighting to find the real killers,” Rajesh told me.........Our entire extended family believes in the innocence of Nupur and Rajesh. We believe this, not because we’re related to them – why would we excuse anybody who killed our Aarushi? We believe this because they had no motive to kill their child. We have never seen any credible evidence to support this outlandish accusation. We are a cosmopolitan family from India's western state of Maharashtra. Many of us have married outside our communities. It was a trend Nupur began when she married Rajesh Talwar, a Punjabi, in 1989. The prosecutors claim the child and cook had a sexual relationship, which led to the murders. They have insinuated in “leaks” to media about “honour killings,” a heinous concept, but an easy sell via mass media. Most people assume the worst in these situations. But the idea that the possibility of sex would lead to murder is incomprehensible to us. Had there been an inappropriate relationship between the child and the cook, it would have led to Hemraj being fired and a parent-to-child talk about responsibilities and actions.
SUB-HEADING: "When two married dentists were convicted Monday of killing their 13-year-old daughter and the family's housekeeper, it caused shock and anger among those related to them."
GIST: "Shock. Rage. Disillusionment. My cousin Nupur Talwar and her husband, Rajesh, were convicted Monday in India of murdering their only child Aarushi and trusted cook, Hemraj. Just this weekend, they were so hopeful. Nupur had a bit of a cough, but she and Rajesh thought they had a fighting chance. “Whether we’re acquitted or convicted, we have to keep on fighting to find the real killers,” Rajesh told me.........Our entire extended family believes in the innocence of Nupur and Rajesh. We believe this, not because we’re related to them – why would we excuse anybody who killed our Aarushi? We believe this because they had no motive to kill their child. We have never seen any credible evidence to support this outlandish accusation. We are a cosmopolitan family from India's western state of Maharashtra. Many of us have married outside our communities. It was a trend Nupur began when she married Rajesh Talwar, a Punjabi, in 1989. The prosecutors claim the child and cook had a sexual relationship, which led to the murders. They have insinuated in “leaks” to media about “honour killings,” a heinous concept, but an easy sell via mass media. Most people assume the worst in these situations. But the idea that the possibility of sex would lead to murder is incomprehensible to us. Had there been an inappropriate relationship between the child and the cook, it would have led to Hemraj being fired and a parent-to-child talk about responsibilities and actions.
More to point, prosecutors did not have credible evidence to back the stated motive. It has been horrifying to watch gossip in a cynical society morph into the unquestioning truth. But it has been
absolutely terrifying to watch the country’s premier investigative
agency shun facts to build a case around a theory."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/11/25/aarushi_talwar_couple_found_guilty_of_murdering_teen_daughter.html
See previous story: "Indian prosecutors say defence shouldn't use forensics or witnesses. "A high-ranking police official, Arun Kumar, who, during his stint at the CBI, headed a team that conducted extensive investigations and exonerated Rajesh in July 2008. His team found no evidence that Hemraj had been killed in the house. Hemraj’s blood was not in Aarushi’s room or on the Talwars’ clothes. Kumar’s team emerged with an alternative narrative of a sexual assault gone wrong and pointed the finger at the Talwars’ dental clinic assistant Krishna Thadarai, and two other domestic workers from the neighbourhood. Kumar was taken off the case. A second CBI team did not investigate the three alternative suspects further; instead, it accused the Talwars of the murders. The Talwars are seeking reports of the tests on the dental clinic assistant and the other two men. They are also asking that evidence collected by police, including a blood-stained palm print on a stucco wall, blood on an alcohol bottle and a blood-stained pillow cover and blood-stained knife seized from Krishna’s house be examined by a DNA expert in England."
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/06/14/aarushi_talwar_murder_indian_prosecutors_say_defence_shouldnt_use_forensics_or_witnesses.html
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com
