New Delhi:
The lawyers for Nupur and Rajesh Talwar produced a golf club in a court near Delhi today to dispute allegations that the couple used a similar club to kill their daughter, Aarushi, and their domestic help, Hemraj.
The Talwars are being tried for the double murder at a court in Ghaziabad. They have also been accused of destruction of evidence. Mrs Talwar has been in jail since April 30. Her request for bail is being heard by the Allahabad High Court. Mr Talwar was granted bail a few months ago, but the CBI wants it to be cancelled so that he, too, is sent to prison.
Aarushi was found with her throat slit in her bedroom in May 2008. 24 hours later, her family's domestic help, a Nepalese man named Hemraj, was found dead on the roof. The CBI, which has investigated the case, says that injuries on the bodies of Hemraj and Aarushi suggest they were hit by a golf club that was discovered at the Talwars' home. But the couple's lawyers today said that the dimensions of the golf club in question do not match the injuries to the victims.
They say that it's likely that Hemraj allowed his friends into the Talwars' home after the couple had gone to sleep. The group had drinks on the terrace, and some of the outsiders then went into the Talwars' home and tried to attack Aarushi in her room. The Talwars' lawyers say she was killed for resisting the assault. When the attackers went back to the roof and reported what had happened, they say, Hemraj may have tried to hit them. In retaliation, they allege, he was killed.
The Talwars argue that both victims were killed using a sharp knife or "Khukri."