1.

ANALYSIS OF THE MOVIE

Talwar is an open-ended movie which mostly tried to focus on the unpleasant and
prolonged experience of the dentist couple who were alleged for murdering their
thirteen-year-old daughter, Aarushi and domestic help, Hemraj. The movie started with
the discovery of Aarushi’s dead body by her parents when the maid came into the house
on the morning of May 16,2008. After the body was discovered, the missing servant
Hemraj was regarded as a prime suspect until his partially decomposed body was found
on the terrace of the apartment the very next day. Since there were only four people
living in the house, two were dead and the other two were alive, so the other suspects
after the servant were the parents of the teen girl- Dr. Rajesh and Dr. Nupur Talwar.
The police assumed that Dr Rajesh on finding out his daughter and Hemraj in an
objectionable position murdered them out of grave and sudden provocation. The family
and friends of the Talwar alleged that the police were trying to frame the Talwars to
cover up the bungled-up investigation. The case was then handed over to the Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Till the time CBI took over the case, most of the evidences were tampered and ruined
by the police due to their carelessness and the crime scene was completely destroyed as
there were many people roaming around when investigation was carried out and it was
left with circumstantial evidence only. CBI absolved the parents from the blame and
shifted it to the assistant of Talwar, Krishna and two domestic servants. A colleague of
Krishna informed the team that before some days, he was scolded by Dr. Rajesh Talwar.
Being so enraged, he said that he will settle his scores with Dr. Talwar when time
comes. To further the investigation, CBI conducted the narco test of all the three
servants and led to the conclusion that on May 15, they stayed there in Hemraj’s room
and had a drink in the night after which having found the door of Aarushi’s room open,
went inside and tried to sexually assault her and when she resisted, they killed her.
Hemraj being the witness of this was also killed by them. Since narco test is not
admissible in the court of law as evidence, all the three men were released as there were
no solid evidence against them and CBI was alleged for using unreliable methods just
to extract confession. Moreover, it was questioned that how the parents cannot hear the
screams or the scuffle which might have took place a night before when two persons
were killed, while being in the next room. The parents told the CBI that the sound
produced by their Air Conditioner is way more than what is usually produced by
ordinary Air Conditioners and it is not possible to hear any sound from outside in that
noise. CBI conducted an experiment to check the reliability of the statement and to their
surprise, found that even after creating so many sounds outside, they are not able to
hear it while sitting in the parent’s room due to the sound made by the AC.
When the first team of CBI gathered some important evidences and were about to
submit report and conclude the case, the case was handed over to a different team led
by Mr. Kaul which initially made a recommendation for closing the case due to lack of
evidence. However, it considered the parents of Aarushi to be the sole suspect based on
some evidences. Firstly, both Aarushi and Hemraj suffered similar kind of injuries.
They were first hit by a sharp-edged weapon and then their throats were slit. On further
investigation, it was discovered that the dimensions of a golf club owned by Dr. Rajesh
Talwar was similar to the dimensions of the injuries provided in post-mortem report.
Also, the throats were slit in a very precise and professional way. However, no weapon
for this could be discovered. This team suggested that since it needed a clinical
precision, it might be done by the parents by using a surgical instrument. Secondly,
they noticed that on the night of the murder, the internet router was switched on and off
so many times and since, the router is in Aarushi’s room, the parents had no choice but
to go in her room and turn it on. However, the parents claimed that they were sleeping
at that time and also, the router was switched on and off after long gaps even on the
next day in the presence of the police so, this evidence was considered unreliable.
Thirdly, they relied on the theory of the police that Dr. Rajesh Talwar found both
Hemraj and Aarushi in an objectionable position. However, it was later defended as
when the body of Hemraj was discovered, he was wearing slippers, so it was not
possible to indulge in any such activity while wearing slippers and CBI overlooked
these minute details. Fourthly, the crime scene was completely dressed-up after the
murder took place. The bedsheet was left undisturbed and there were no blood spots
found on the floor and when the bedsheet was sent to the forensic team, it was wet with
water which proved that it was all cleaned up and Aarushi was lying there like any other
girl resting after school hours.
Based on these evidences, a special CBI court held the Talwar couple guilty of both the
murders and they were sentenced to life imprisonment for double murders, tampering
with the evidences and the crime scene in the year 2013. The Talwar family, being upset
with the verdict of the court called it a miscarriage of justice. The judgement was also
criticized by some journalists as it was written even before the judge heard the full
arguments in defense of the Talwar. In the year 2014, the verdict was challenged in the
Allahabad High Court by the Talwars. The High Court absolved the Talwars from all
the charges stating that the evidences and arguments presented by the prosecution failed
to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt against Talwars.

LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE MOVIE:

TUTORED WITNESS:

Account given by a tutored witness is no testimony anywhere in the world. In this case,
Bharti Mandal, the maid of the Talwars was the first witness at the crime scene.Hence,
her testimony was of great importance to this case. However, she admitted in the court
that she was saying what was taught to her and instead of rejecting that , the judge relied
on it by saying that even if she has been tutored but I believe in her testimony as she
belongs to the lower strata of the society.

BURDEN OF PROOF:

In very special cases, where a mystery is indeed a closed-door mystery, the burden of
proof comes on the defendants. However, in this case, it was not proved that the door
was locked from within. Hence the burden of proof in this case lied on the prosecution,
as in other cases of this type. The prosecution has to prove the case beyond reasonable
doubt. However, here since the prosecution failed to prove it beyond reasonable doubt,
the Talwars were acquitted and absolved from all the charges.

NARCO ANALYSIS:

The Central Bureau of Investigation relied on the narco analysis of the servants and the
parents to reach the conclusion. Narco tool should only be used to further the
investigation, not as a tool to end or conclude an investigation. However, this is a settled
principle that narco analysis is not admissible in the court of law as an evidence.