New Delhi:
Nupur and Rajesh Talwar were found guilty today of murdering their only child, Aarushi, and their domestic help, Hemraj. As they were being taken to jail, their relatives released a statement signed by the couple. The Talwars said, "We are deeply disappointed, hurt and anguished for being convicted of a crime we have not committed. We refuse to feel defeated and will continue our fight for justice."
Relatives also quoted Rajesh Talwar as telling them, "Please carry on with the fight. Don't give up."
The Talwars- both dentists- will be sentenced tomorrow by a court in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh.
In May 2008, Aarushi, then 13, was found with her throat slit in her bedroom. Hours later, Hemraj was discovered dead on the terrace.
The Talwars have repeatedly said they are innocent, and have suggested that outsiders known to Hemraj may have entered their home and killed their daughter. "Maybe Aarushi was witness to something that happened in the house," her mother Nupur told NDTV in an interview in 2008, just days after the double murder. (
Watch: We were such a happy family: Nupur Talwar)
The CBI has argued that the Talwars killed Aarushi and Hemraj in a fit of rage after finding their daughter in a compromising position with the man who had worked with them for nearly a decade.
"God knows it is not true. I have faith in God...that is the only thing that will work for me now," Mrs Talwar told NDTV in May 2008.
The CBI has acknowledged that it has no material or forensic evidence to link the Talwars to the murders. It has based its case on the "last-seen theory" which holds that the victims were last seen with the Talwars.
Mrs Talwar told NDTV that the family dined and then watched TV together on the night of May 15, 2008. "There was work the next day, there was school the next day, it was just another night," she said.
The next morning, the Talwars said they found Aarushi dead. Mr Talwar then told the local police station that Hemraj was missing and was the likely killed. Hours later, however, the Nepalese domestic help was discovered dead.
Mr Talwar has been convicted of trying to mislead the investigation by falsely blaming Hemraj for his daughter's death.