New Delhi:
While stressing that there is no evidence against him, and that a motive cannot be established, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its closure report has declared that Aarushi Talwar's father, Rajesh, was the lone suspect in the murder of his daughter, and his domestic help, Hemraj.
But Aarushi's parents insist the CBI's version is completely concocted. In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Aarushi's father Dr Rajesh Talwar said, "I have had enough of this. This is the second time I am going through this. This is what they do to innocent people, innocent father who has lost his child."
"I cannot understand this kind of investigative agency. I have no words for them," a visibly upset Rajesh Talwar added.
By blaming her husband, Aarushi's mother Nupur alleged, the CBI is trying to cover up its own shabby investigation.
"Do they care about Aarushi? Do they care about my child? Aarushi is dead and gone," Nupur said fighting back her tears. "This is nothing but a cover up," she alleged asking, "how can they put an allegation without evidence?"
"We don't wish to live anymore," the Talwars told NDTV.
Fourteen-year-old Aarushi was found dead in her room on the morning of May 16, 2008. Hemraj was discovered dead on the Talwars' terrace a few hours later.
In a report submitted to a Ghaziabad court on Wednesday, the CBI listed only Rajesh in the column of suspects. The CBI has said that three domestic helpers who were arrested for the murders of Aarushi and Hemraj in 2008 were found innocent. (
Read: CBI gives up with closure report)
The 30-page closure also accuses the Talwars of trying to influence the doctor who conducted their daughter's post-mortem. The doctor allegedly told the CBI that he got a call from a family member asking him to skip a virginity test.
Rajesh, a dentist, was arrested a week after his daughter's death two years ago, but was released two months later after investigators admitted they had absolutely no evidence against him. Now, once again, the CBI blames Rajesh and suggests that his wife helped him destroy evidence.
Both Rajesh Talwar and his wife Nupur have over the last few years been put through lie detector and brain mapping tests. The tests, by the CBI's admission, were inconclusive.
The CBI's decision to end its investigation has yet to be accepted by court. It has caused public outrage. Law Minister Veerappa Moily also summoned the CBI director on Friday and warned him to take the case seriously. (
Read: Moily intervenes, tells CBI to get serious)
When Aarushi was found dead in her bedroom in Noida in May 2008, her parents told the UP police that their domestic help, Hemraj, was missing. However, hours later, blood stains on the stairs leading to the terrace of the building led to the discovery of Hemraj's dead body.
The CBI now claims that the Talwars tried to divert the police's attention after Aarushi was found dead by sending them to look for Hemraj. The agency believes that the parents during this time destroyed evidence in their home. However, Nupur points out that as soon as her daughter's body was discovered, the Noida police took over the investigation and the Talwar home. The CBI adds that a wound on Aarushi's head seemed to have been caused by a golf club used by Rajesh and that the Talwars took a year to hand it over to investigators. Refuting that, Nupur said that she voluntarily submitted the club to the CBI even though she had never been asked for it.
Exactly a week after her death, Rajesh Talwar, was arrested by the police, which suggested he had killed his daughter because he had found her in a compromising position with Hemraj. Child rights' activists attacked the police for its unfounded and invasive statement. Amid public outrage, and at the request of UP Chief Minister Mayawati, the double murder investigation was then handed to the CBI. (
Read: Timeline of the case)
Sources in the CBI say that the closure report maintains that any evidence found against Rajesh Talwar was circumstantial. For example, the post-mortem shows Aarushi was killed between midnight and 1 am. Dr Talwar's internet connection shows he was online till midnight, proving he was awake while his daughter was being murdered.
The Talwars' home had not been broken into, leading to the theory that the murderer was inside the house, or someone who had easy access to the apartment. In its closure report, the CBI also stresses that when the Noida police discovered Hemraj's body, Dr Talwar was not at home. He refused to return to identify the corpse. However, the Talwars have earlier pointed out that when they were called, they were on their way to Haridwar to perform Aarushi's last rites.
Between June and July 2008, the CBI arrested three domestic helpers who were known to the Talwars. Krishna worked at Rajesh's dental clinic, Raj Kumar was employed by the Talwars' closest friends, the Durranis; and Vijay Mandal worked for a family that lived in the same apartment building as Aarushi. The three men were put through narco-analysis. They did not implicate themselves or each other. The results of brain-mapping and narco-analysis are in any case not admissible as evidence in court.
All three men were released in September 2008 after the CBI said in court that it had no evidence against them.