Nine years ago, the fate of flat number L-32 in Noida’s Jal Vayu Vihar changed when 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar and Hemraj, her family’s domestic help, were found dead. In light of the double murder case, the apartment soon came under oppressive media scrutiny overnight and was home to numerous theories built around the murders, that later faded away.
On 12 October, Nupur and Rajesh Talwar, parents of Aarushi who were named prime suspects, were acquitted by the Allahabad High Court for lack of evidence, but the case still remains a forbidden topic for the neighbourhood inhabited by retired air force and naval officers.
The two-bedroom flat, owned by the Talwars, now houses a new family that has been dodging reporters and the media spotlight that has returned following the acquittal on 12 October.
Persistent reporters assembled outside the house from 7 am just in case the Talwars returned to their home after their release from the Dasna jail in Ghaziabad.
Scribes intermittently pressed the buzzer seeking permission to shoot inside the house, but the door remained steadfastly shut.
Not giving up, some camerapersons tried to go up to the terrace where the body of Hemraj was found, but the door was padlocked.
The presence of the reporters irked the residents, who were reminded of the May of 2008 when the two were found murdered. Some expressed displeasure, asking the mediapersons to move their cameras and equipment from the way.
“No One Really Talks About It Anymore”
A new resident in the block, Deepali, told Hindustan Times, “When we bought a home two years back in this block, we did not know that Aarushi lived here, but later came to know about it. But the incident is a thing of past now. Things have changed and no one really talks about it, except the news channels.”
One of residents near the Sector 25 home, D Singh, told PTI:
If not the Talwars, then who killed Aarushi? However, we are happy that they have been acquitted.
While another neighbour Ashish said, “No parent can do this to their child.”
The Nepalese domestic helps in the sector made no bones of where their sympathies lay.
“The rich can get themselves acquitted. In the Nithari case too, (Moninder Singh) Pandher was acquitted. The poor cannot expect justice,” said one.
(With inputs from PTI)
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