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foreign [Music] deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any time you
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need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support and for
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a more detailed list of content warnings please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website
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[Music] oh [Music] bhati Mandel had only worked for the talwa family for a week but had already
00:00:49
settled into a rhythm the 35 year old housemaid had recently relocated to the Indian capital of Delhi in search of
00:00:57
work she was soon hired to clean the home of Rajesh and nupo talawa a husband and
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wife who lived in the south of Delhi suburb of Noida Rajesh and Nepal were both the dentists
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with busy schedules and needed someone to cover for their usual maid who was on leave
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they lived in an enormous 1886 apartment complex that was home to almost 10 000 people
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mbati would visit their three-bedroom home twice a day to dust clean the floors and wash the dishes
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[Music] the towel was also employed a live-in servant named hemraj benjade every morning and evening he would let
00:01:42
Barty into the home after she rang the doorbell installed by an exterior mesh security door
00:01:49
at 6am on Friday May 16 2008 Barty arrived for her first shift of the day she rang the doorbell as usual but
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hemraj didn't appear body rang the bell a second time and when she was again met with no response
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she figured hemraj was just taking his time she walked up a set of stairs where the
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family's bucket and mop was kept and carried them back to the front door still there was no sign of hemraj
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bhati rang the doorbell for a third time and peered down the hallway inside there was a second Mesh Door at the end
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of the hall immediately behind it in the same frame was a wooden door that opened to the
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apartment the wooden door finally opened and Barty was surprised to see a woman standing
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there instead of hemorrhage it was Newport talwa one of bhati's employers new poor asked the body where hemraj was
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and body said she didn't know Paul said he had probably gone out to buy milk and must have locked the
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security door behind him there were two sets of keys to the Tawas apartment hemraj had one and the couple had the
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other but he asked a new poor if she could throw down her keys from the balcony neupora agreed
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but he walked downstairs to stand beneath the balcony when new poor appeared she mentioned
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that the door might not be locked after all but he asked her to throw down the keys
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anyway and Newport did so keys in hand Barty headed back upstairs to the apartment
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this time she pushed to the exterior Mesh Door and it swung open but he walked down the hall to the
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second Mesh Door which was latched from the outside she unbolted the latch and entered the
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apartment through the wooden door which new poor had left open inside Barty was met with chaos
00:04:04
she could hear new Paula talwar and her husband Rajesh shouting and crying new poor reappeared and threw her arms
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around a body still weeping loudly when bhati asked why she was crying new Paul replied
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go inside and see what has happened she led Barty to the bedroom of the couple's only child a 13 year old
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daughter named arushi standing in the doorway of arushi's room but he saw the girl lying in bed
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her body was partly covered with a white flannel blanket and her throat had been
00:04:41
slit [Music] [Music] after Newport talwa had answered the doorbell she'd picked up the family's
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landline phone and dialed hamraj's mobile to see where he was her call was answered but the person on
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the other end said nothing after a few seconds they hung up at the same time Rajesh talawa was
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getting out of bed when he walked into the family's living room he immediately noticed a bottle of
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Valentine's Scotch whiskey sitting on the dining table it was two-thirds empty neither he nor his wife had been
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drinking the night before and the bottle hadn't been there when they went to bed
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at 11 30. most troubling of all there were several bloody fingerprints smeared across it
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Rajesh pointed out the bottle to Newport then the two of them went to check on their daughter
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arushi always slept with her door closed and a locked from the inside but that morning the door was slightly
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open when her parents walked in they immediately noticed the walls were spattered with blood
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arushi lay on her bed covered with a white flannel blanket her head was partially concealed by a
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camo tote bag she owned the pillow under her head was blood soaked and the blood had dripped onto
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her mattress and the floor below new poor lifted the blanket and both parents saw a large card across their
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daughter's throat arushi's head hung to one side her skull crushed just above her left eye
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strangely there was no blood on the blanket and bag covering arushi nor was there any on her stuffed toys
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that surrounded her including a bunny rabbit on the bed's headboard and a large Bart Simpson doll on the mattress
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it was as though these items had all been placed there after the attack Rajesh tried to straighten his
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daughter's head though it was clear she was deceased and then he started pacing back and
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forth to and from marushi's bedroom one moment he would sit on the bed beside his child the next he stood and
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started hitting his head against the wall Newport appeared to be in a State of Shock
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when bhati returned to the apartment to start cleaning her crying new pour led her to arushi's room
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body stood stand as she took in the violent scene finally she managed to ask the talwars
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if she should tell the building security guards they said yes and body hurried off
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meanwhile the talwars began calling their closest to loved ones all of whom lived in the same large complex
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these included newport's parents rajesha's brother and his wife and to their friends the daranis a married
00:08:15
couple who were also dentists soon all were gathered at the Tawas apartment word spread throughout the tight-knit
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community and the four couples were eventually joined by neighbors curious passes by and to members of the media
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[Music] about an hour after arushi's body was discovered the first police officers
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arrived they made no attempt to cordon off the crime scene as people wandered through
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the apartment examining every room a portion of arishi's mattress was cut out and taken off for forensic testing
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along with her blood-stained sheets pillow and clothing there was no blood in any other part of
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the home except for five bloody fingerprints on the bottle of whiskey on the dining room table
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[Music] it appeared that nothing had been stolen from the talwar's home then two friends of Rajesh talwa noticed
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what looked like a blood on a set of stairs that led to the rooftop Terrace the daughter the Terrace was closed and
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locked on close inspection the lock seemed to have blood on it too the men pointed this out to the police
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Rajesh said he didn't know where the keys to the door were as their servant hemraj was responsible for locking out
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he and his wife knew Paul kept begging the police repeatedly to find hemraj find hemraj
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there was no sign of hemraj benjade in the adjoining servants quarters where he lived
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these quarters were accessible from the main apartment or via a side door in the
00:10:06
hallway where the security doors were located in the kitchen was an unaiden plate of
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food that he'd fixed himself for dinner the night before his mobile phone was missing and it
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looked like his bed hadn't been slept in the towels tried calling his phone again
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but it now appeared to be switched off Rajesh and Newport talwa were convinced that he had killed their daughter
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the fact that he'd vanished Without a Trace and hung up on Newport when she phoned earlier pointed to his guilt
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45 year old hemraj was originally from a village in Nepal and had moved to India
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to find work as a planned suburb of Delhi Noida had far more job opportunities hemraj sent the money he made to his
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family back in Nepal he'd been employed by the Tawas for about eight months and it was fairly
00:11:04
standard for middle class Professionals in urban parts of India to hire domestic
00:11:09
servants hemraj did the talwas grocery shopping prepared their meals and was responsible
00:11:16
for receiving visitors and other employees to the home the talwars had never had any problems
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with him at all until now certain he had fled back to Nepal after murdering arushi the talwars offered the
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police money to pursue him across the border the previous night had been normal new
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poor and arushi had arrived home between 6 and 7pm Rajesh had to work late so was taken
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home by his driver at about nine the driver had gone up to the apartment to drop off the keys after parking the
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car in the garage and saw new poor arushi and hemraj getting ready for dinner at 9 30 the family sat down to eat the
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meal that hemraj had prepared Rajesh and Nepal had a surprise for arushi in nine days time on May 24 she would be
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turning 14. her father had ordered a Sony digital camera as a gift for her and it had
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arrived that day Newport persuaded Rajesh that they should give arushi the camera that night
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as an early birthday surprise arushi's birthday party was being held in three days time and to this way she
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could take photos of the occasion her parents presented her with the camera at about 10 o'clock
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arushi was so excited that she immediately started taking pictures of herself and her parents
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at around 11 arushi went to her room her parents also went to their room where Rajesh sent some emails
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the internet connection was slow so he asked nupor to switch the router off and on again
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Newport went next door to arushi's room where the router was kept and saw her daughter sitting up in bed reading a
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book Newport went to bed shortly after this while Rajesh stayed up using the internet until just after midnight
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neither of them had heard any disturbance during the night Newport told investigators that she
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couldn't remember if she had closed darushi's bedroom door after going in to reboot the router
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normally she would and the door would automatically lock behind her arushi could open the door from the
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inside or it could be unlocked from the outside with a set of keys Newport kept on her bedside table
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but that morning the keys were found in the drawing room later that day arushi's body was
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autopsied it was estimated that she had been killed between midnight and 1am there were no signs of a sexual assault
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as well as a 14 centimeter wound to her throat there were several smaller cuts on her face
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these injuries were all sustained after she was struck in the head with some sort of weapon that left a U or v-shaped
00:14:30
scar it was this first injury that killed her a brutal attack like this in a quiet
00:14:39
middle class neighborhood was shocking and news of arushi's murder made headlines across the country
00:14:46
a police spokesperson talked on camera with the media naming the family's domestic servant as their Prime Suspect
00:14:53
and adding that he was now on the Run quote his close relatives have been taken into
00:15:00
custody and soon we will arrest him it was believed hemraj had decided to molest arushi after consuming some
00:15:09
whiskey when she resisted hamraj killed her in a violent rage the police spokesperson asked for the
00:15:18
press's help in Sharing hemraj's details so he could be arrested as soon as possible
00:15:24
photographs of both arushi and hemraj were given to the media and broadcast on news programs that same day
00:15:32
a reward of twenty thousand rupees was offered for information that led to hemraj's capture
00:15:39
meanwhile the talwars were preparing to farewell their daughter in Hindu tradition it is generally
00:15:46
believed that a loved one's body must be cremated within 24 hours of their death
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having gained the pathologist's reassurances that arishi's autopsy was complete and nothing further was needed
00:15:59
her parents made the necessary arrangements that evening arusha's loved ones gathered at the talwa residence to pay
00:16:10
their final respects to her before she was cremated the apartment was packed with people and
00:16:17
still nothing had been cordoned off on seeing his daughter's school friends Rajesh talwa burst into tears
00:16:25
he cried out look at what they've done to your friend arushi's loved ones gathered around her
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small slender body which was wrapped up in a white cloth as part of the pre-cremation ritual
00:16:41
only her face was exposed she looked pale but peaceful friends remembered arushi as a
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fun-loving girl who was often the center of attention at social events but someone who was very shy at the same
00:16:56
time it always took her a little while to feel comfortable opening up to others though she had a playful sense of humor
00:17:04
and looked to tease her parents arushi was a serious student who always ranked in the top three of her class
00:17:14
she also loved attending parties and going on holidays and had particularly enjoyed a trip she'd taken to Singapore
00:17:21
and Malaysia the year prior she had been happiest when surrounded by her family and friends
00:17:29
in just four days before she was murdered arushi had given new poor a card for Mother's Day that read in part
00:17:37
mum you are the best after all you are the one who will always be there for me [Music]
00:17:48
the following morning Rajesh and Newport talwa left with arishi's ashes for the city of haridwar located about 217
00:17:56
kilometers Northeast of Noida haridwar is a Hindu pilgrimage site and is where the river Ganges exits the
00:18:05
foothills of the Himalayas the river is seen as a gateway to Heaven following death
00:18:11
It is believed that scattering a loved one's ashes in the Ganges will help them rest in peace
00:18:18
[Music] meanwhile KK Gorton a retired Deputy superintendent of Noida police who was
00:18:25
something of a local celebrity headed over to the couple's apartment to offer his condolences
00:18:32
relatives of the talwas had claimed to the residents the previous evening while police milled about
00:18:39
Gautam was met by rajesha's Brother Dinesh who complained to him that the lock to the Terrace still hadn't been
00:18:46
opened the talwars had given permission for the lock to be broken the day before but
00:18:52
investigators had been unable to find a locksmith looking at the staircase that led to the
00:19:00
Terrace Gautam saw what looked like spots of blood he immediately wondered if arushi's
00:19:06
killer had escaped via the rooftop or hidden the murder weapon up there Gautam called the superintendent of
00:19:14
Noida Palace and demanded to know how officers had missed seeing the bloodstains the day prior
00:19:21
the superintendent rushed to the apartment with a senior officer and the Terrace doors lock was broken
00:19:28
[Music] and Dinesh talawar headed out to the Terrace along with the superintendent
00:19:35
they immediately saw that the cement was stained with an enormous pool of blood further away were some bloody drag marks
00:19:44
that led to a corner of the Rooftop a panel from an air cooler had been torn off and clumsily placed on top of
00:19:52
something that was slumped in the corner it was a human body clearly deceased and
00:19:59
badly decomposed due to India's Hot Summer Sun the body appeared to belong to a middle-aged man
00:20:07
[Music] Dinesh talawar called his brother to tell him another body had been found at
00:20:22
his residence Rajesh and new poor hurried home still carrying arushi's ashes Rajesh was asked if he could identify
00:20:31
the body but the man's face was too swollen and disfigured to recognize however Rajesh thought the shirt he was
00:20:40
wearing looked familiar as did his hair after checking with his wife Rajesh said
00:20:47
he was fairly sure the body was that of their servant hemraj benjade the number one suspect in the case had
00:20:56
turned out to be a second victim like arushi hemraj had been killed with a weapon that left a U or v-shaped scar
00:21:06
his wound was to the back of the head then his throat had been slashed it was estimated that both victims had
00:21:15
been killed between 12 and 1 AM [Music] it turned out that the blood on the bottle of whiskey belonged to both
00:21:24
hemraj and darushi indicating the killer touched the bottle after the murders however no identifiable print could be
00:21:32
collected from the marks left [Music] on the Terrace was a bloody footprint made by a size eight or nine shoe
00:21:41
this hadn't belonged to hemraj as he was found wearing his slippers also on a terrorist war was a large
00:21:49
bloody handprint made with hemraj's blood multiple reporters and others who were
00:21:55
permitted to wonder about the crime scene touched it before it could be forensically examined
00:22:01
therefore the police subsequently decided that checking it for DNA or Prince was useless
00:22:08
for unknown reasons the air cooler panel that had been placed on hemraj's body was never examined either
00:22:17
with their Prime Suspect ruled out of the case investigators had to start from scratch
00:22:22
technology used by the family seemed to confirm the timeline that talwise had provided
00:22:29
the photos on arushi's new digital camera showed a happy family enjoying their evening together at around 10 pm
00:22:37
the last photo was a shot of arushi smiling shyly it appeared to be a selfie she had taken
00:22:44
in her bedroom based on the numbering of the photographs however police realized that
00:22:51
some shots prior to the last one had been deleted they thought this was suspicious but the
00:22:58
Tawas said it was due to arashi deleting pictures she didn't like computer and internet records confirmed
00:23:05
Rajesh tawa had been active online until around 12 am Raj benjatti's phone was missing but
00:23:15
records showed the last call he'd received that night had been just before 8 30.
00:23:21
whoever called rang from a pay phone about one kilometer away and had chatted with hemraj for around 6 minutes
00:23:29
the next calls the phone received were the ones from Newport the following morning
00:23:35
the phone pinged off a cell tower in the vicinity indicating that whoever had the
00:23:40
phone was still in the large apartment complex when arushi's body was discovered by her
00:23:47
parents her black Nokia n72 mobile phone was noticeably absent from its usual spot on her bedside table
00:23:56
investigators had been unable to find the missing device but they could access its records
00:24:03
usually arushi stayed up until after midnight texting her friends but on Thursday May 15 her phone had been
00:24:11
switched off at 9 10 pm this was highly unusual her parents said that she had complained
00:24:20
about the phone not working properly and they discussed getting her a new one [Music]
00:24:26
pouring over the records police saw that from the start of April until her death
00:24:31
in mid-may there had been 688 text messages and calls between arushi's phone and another number
00:24:39
that number belonged to a 15 year old school friend of arushi's named anmol he was known to have a crush on arushi
00:24:48
and was said to be her boyfriend amongst darushi and her friends having a boyfriend was a term to describe a
00:24:56
special friendship with a boy there would be a mutual attraction between them and they'd talk a lot on
00:25:01
the phone and at school but it didn't imply any physical intimacy anmol was the last person who tried to
00:25:10
contact arushi on the night she was killed at about midnight he tried calling her
00:25:16
mobile then the family's landline neither call was answered roughly half an hour later he sent
00:25:24
arushi a text because her phone was switched off this message didn't go through police decided to question anmol to see
00:25:34
what he knew a week after the murders police picked up on mole and took him to the station
00:25:43
for questioning his parents weren't present for this and nor were they asked for their permission
00:25:50
investigators grilled unmoll about his relationship with arushi anmol said that he and arushi had a
00:25:58
disagreement on the night in question which was why she'd turned off her phone so early
00:26:03
it wasn't because she was having issues with the device as she told her parents according to one mole arushi had also
00:26:11
complained about her father who she said had become stricter over the past two weeks
00:26:19
under intense interrogation anmol added that he wasn't the only boy arushi was in contact with
00:26:26
she'd been a pretty and popular girl who'd had lots of boyfriends when the police asked if arushi had been
00:26:33
quote easy with who she liked unmul agreed that she was that same day police called the talwars
00:26:43
and asked them to come down to the station supposedly to identify a suspect the couple got into their car and tailed
00:26:51
a police vehicle to the destination they in turn were followed by multiple television news crews
00:27:00
all of a sudden the talwars turned around and abruptly headed back home without ever making it to the police
00:27:06
station the following day was Friday May 23 exactly one week after arushi talwar and
00:27:16
hemraj benjari were murdered investigators went to the Tawas home and again asked Rajesh and Nepal to
00:27:24
accompany them to the station the couple agreed once at the station they were taken into
00:27:31
separate rooms new evidence had come to light that had taken the case in a New Direction
00:27:37
[Music] investigators said it was related to a woman named Dr Anita dharani Dr durrani and her husband were close
00:27:48
with the Tawas like the towers they were both dentists and the two couples worked in the same
00:27:55
Clinic their daughter had also been one of arushi's best friends the police said they had Intel that
00:28:03
Rajesh tawa had been having an affair with Anita durani during anmol's interrogation the
00:28:10
previous day he had supposedly said that arushi knew about the affair and was unhappy about it
00:28:18
a social worker who had known hamraj had also told the police that five days before he was murdered hemraj said he
00:28:26
was in danger and so were his loved ones based on these claims guldash and Singh
00:28:33
the Inspector General of Noida police had a theory he believed that 13-year-old arushi had
00:28:41
been so devastated by her father's Affair that she decided to embark on an illicit relationship of her own with
00:28:48
hemraj her family's 45 year old servant laid on the night of Thursday May 15 Rajesh went to arushi's room and found
00:28:58
hemraj in there with her Inspector General Singh would a later say the pair had been in quote
00:29:05
unobjectionable but not compromising position enraged Rajesh tawa took hemraj up to
00:29:14
the Terrace and brutally slaughtered him then he went back downstairs and drank some whiskey before making his way to
00:29:21
arashi's room while his daughter lay in bed Rajesh murdered her in an honor killing a crime
00:29:28
in which a family member is killed to supposedly protect their family's honor such killings have been reported from
00:29:36
the Northern parts of India which was where Rajesh was originally from [Music] Rajesh was confronted with video footage
00:29:45
that seemingly bolstered the police Theory it showed him and Newport the previous
00:29:50
day suddenly turning around when they were supposed to be going to the police station
00:29:56
investigators said this was evidence they had tried to flee Rajesh explained that the reason they
00:30:04
had turned around was because the police had called and told them not to come down after all
00:30:10
he denied having an affair or ever doing anything to harm his child after getting married the Tawas had
00:30:18
tried to have children for five years without success and had finally used IVF to conceive varushi
00:30:25
she was their only child and a much-loved daughter nevertheless Rajesh was informed that he
00:30:33
was suspected of committing the double homicide and placed under arrest a Press Conference was held to update
00:30:46
the media and the public on this twist in the investigation the case was receiving an exceptional
00:30:52
amount of media attention this was partly due to the fact that high-profile middle-class professionals
00:30:58
such as the Tawas weren't usually seen as victims of crime Inspector General gudash and Singh told
00:31:06
the assembled press how they believed the murders had played out according to him the weapons used were a
00:31:13
hammer and a surgical scalpel though neither of these items had been recovered [Music]
00:31:20
Singh seemingly forgot arushi's name during the press conference and repeatedly referred to her as Shruti
00:31:28
he also detailed her supposed affair with hemraj and said that the 13 year old had been quote characterless a slur
00:31:37
indicating that she was promiscuous after this briefing news coverage of the murders went into overdrive
00:31:46
salacious stories about the Tawas were splashed across tabloids all over the country
00:31:52
TV programs aired reconstructions of how the murders were thought to have gone down
00:31:58
to many Rajesh being the culprit made sense arushi's bedroom was right next to her
00:32:05
parents room with their beds between seven and eight feet apart if an intruder had killed arushi then
00:32:13
why hadn't her parents heard anything some reporters believed Rajesh hadn't seemed emotional enough in the wake of
00:32:22
his daughter's murder and organized her cremation too quickly rajasha's initial insistence that hemraj
00:32:29
was the culprit was deemed suspicious as was his claim that he didn't have a key
00:32:34
to his own Terrace where hemraj was later found perhaps he had planned to dump hemraj's
00:32:42
body somewhere but never had an opportunity because of the constant police and media presence
00:32:48
Rajesh insisted that he was being framed while some who were close to him offered
00:32:54
their support others turned against him although he and nupor retained to the dental clinic they owned Rajesh was
00:33:03
fired from a position he held at a hospital a few days later police seized rajesh's
00:33:12
laptop and the hard drive from arushi's computer they wasted no time in leaking arushi's
00:33:20
emails social media interactions and WhatsApp messages to journalists select portions of arusha's messages
00:33:28
were printed and shared by India's media emails she'd sent to friends were said to confirm her promiscuous Tendencies as
00:33:37
they referred to boys and contained objectionable words there was also one email to her father
00:33:44
in which she apologized for having gone out with friends without a parent chaperoning them
00:33:50
this was seen as evidence of the father and daughter's fraught relationship even
00:33:55
though the email had a light-hearted tone felt the need to speak up in her family's defense despite police
00:34:05
recommending she avoid the media on Sunday May 25 Newport gave a one-on-one television interview with the
00:34:13
English news station NDTV looking exhausted but composed Newport said the Tawas were like any other
00:34:22
household and there was no way her husband could be responsible for the murders she told the interviewer
00:34:30
I was living in that house I was sleeping next to Rajesh that night it's not even possible
00:34:38
when asked what she believed had really happened nupora said she had no idea when she had discovered her daughter's
00:34:46
body that morning she immediately thought hemraj had done it after realizing he was murdered too she
00:34:53
suspected the culprit was someone who had some kind of hostility with hemraj Nepal is composed to demeanor had the
00:35:05
opposite effect that she had hoped for instead of seeing a devastated mother many in law enforcement the media and
00:35:13
the community saw a cold and calculated woman but others were siding with the Tawas
00:35:21
arushi's classmates organized a protest March in defense of their friend's reputation
00:35:28
India's Minister for women and Child Development expressed her concern that the Noida police had slandered and
00:35:34
murdered a girl she also accused them of blatantly ignoring the nation's press Council
00:35:40
regulations the police's inflammatory statements prompted the then chief minister of
00:35:47
uttar Pradesh the state where Noida was located to suggest the case be handed over to the Central Bureau of
00:35:54
Investigation or CBI the CBI is India's national investigative agency and was originally
00:36:02
created to investigate government corruption eventually its jurisdiction was expanded
00:36:07
to include murders kidnappings and terrorist activities in 1987 a special crimes Branch was
00:36:16
launched which led to the agency investigating many high-profile offenses two weeks after the murder of arushi
00:36:25
talwa and hemraj banjati Noida police inspectors General was demoted and the CBI took over the investigation
00:36:34
although Rajesh tawa remained in police custody the new investigative team began
00:36:39
looking at the case through fresh eyes it seemed to them that Noida police had overlooked some potentially crucial
00:36:46
Clues [Music] three glasses were recovered from hemraj's quarters the morning after the
00:36:54
murders two had remnants of alcohol in them also in the room were three bottles which respectively contained wine beer
00:37:03
and Sprite it appeared as though hemraj had some guests over the night before depressions in his made-up bed indicated
00:37:13
up to three people might have sat on it it also looked like the servant's toilet
00:37:18
had been used by more than one person for some reason all of this had been ignored or overlooked by the Noida
00:37:26
police scouring the case File the cbi's lead investigator noticed something else
00:37:35
a 22 year old man named Krishna tatarai had been held by the Noida police for 10
00:37:41
days during the course of their investigation it turned out that Krishna was another
00:37:46
employee of the Tawas he worked at their dental clinic while also completing his studies
00:37:55
Krishna also lived in the same complex with just a few apartments between his residence and the Tawas
00:38:03
he knew hemraj well and like hemraj he was originally from Nepal the case File documented what Krishna
00:38:11
had told police during his time in custody to the cbi's surprise it seemed that he
00:38:18
was the one who had informed them of Rajesh tawa's alleged affair with Anita durrani
00:38:25
Krishna said that when Nepal was working at another clinic every Tuesday and Saturday Rajesh and Anita would close up
00:38:32
early and give Krishna the afternoon off although he had never actually seen them
00:38:38
together he said that hemraj had told him about it it was also Krishna who claimed arushi
00:38:46
had been devastated after discovering the affair and sought comfort from hemraj according to Rajesh tawa he had
00:38:55
reprimanded Krishna two days before the murders after Krishna made an incorrected Dental cast
00:39:01
this dressing down had taken place in front of other employees including Anita durrani
00:39:09
rajash's driver had supposedly later heard Krishna say to hemraj that he was going to deal with Rajesh
00:39:18
realizing that the police's original Theory had originated from this alone witness the CBI knew they would need to
00:39:25
interview him again on Thursday June 12 Krishna tataraya was taken into custody while being interrogated by the CBI he
00:39:41
confessed that he had been in the Tawas apartment on the night of the murders Krishna was hanging out with hemraj and
00:39:49
two other domestic workers from Nepal Rajkumar and Vijay Mandel Rajkumar was a little younger than
00:39:58
Krishna and worked for the tawa's good friends the daranis people who knew him said he was likeable
00:40:05
and easy going Vijay mandal was also in his early twenties and lived in the garage below
00:40:12
the Tawas residence as a child he had been physically abused by his parents and had anger issues as a
00:40:19
result consequently he struggled to find work but had been a driver in the Noida area
00:40:28
late on the night of Thursday May 16 the four men were drinking beer together in
00:40:33
hemraj's quarters Krishna told the other three how he had been humiliated at work by Rajesh tawa
00:40:40
and wanted Revenge hurting arushi would be the most obvious way to hurt Rajesh Krishna and Raj Kumar headed to arushi's
00:40:51
room the door was unlocked that night they entered and Raj Kumar began trying to sexually assault the 13 year old
00:41:03
she fought back prompting Krishna to pull out a curve to Nepalese knife known as a kukri and to kill her
00:41:12
they knew hemraj would now be a danger to them he had been very fond of arushi and hadn't wanted anything to happen to
00:41:20
her the two men took hemraj up to the Terrace where they killed him to cover up their crime
00:41:29
Krishna would go on to amend his story but the essential facts remained the same
00:41:35
in his second version he said it had actually been Raj Kumar and Vijay Mandel who had gone into arushi's room and both
00:41:43
intended to rape her she had resisted so Vijay had hit her in the head before Raj Kumar cut her throat
00:41:51
with the kukri they wiped off the kukri with a tissue which was then flushed to down the
00:41:57
toilet in arushi's ensuite the two men and Krishna had then taken hemraj up to the Terrace locking its
00:42:05
door behind them and murdered hemraj to ensure his silence Krishna later reverted to his original
00:42:13
admission that he had gone to arushi's room and cut her throat hemraj was murdered after threatening to
00:42:20
tell the Tawas the three culprits had wanted to kill the Tawas as well but gave up after
00:42:27
finding their bedroom door locked on Wednesday June 18 krishna's apartment was searched
00:42:37
it turned out that his rooftop Terrace could be reached from the tawats all of The Terraces in the block were
00:42:44
connected and it was possible to walk across one to the other while searching krishna's apartment CBI
00:42:52
agents found a kukri that had small spots of blood on it they also recovered a pair of trousers
00:42:58
and a pillowcase stained with blood over the following weeks Raj Kumar and Vijay mandal were interrogated as well
00:43:09
both had admitted that they had been with hemraj on the night of the murders and told variations of the same story
00:43:15
Krishna had shared there were some key differences though Vijay said a fight had broken out
00:43:23
between hemraj and a drunken Krishna right before arushi was killed Raj Kumar was more resistant to
00:43:30
confessing and said he hadn't committed the murders he pointed the finger at Krishna instead
00:43:38
the men said they had destroyed arushi and hemraj's mobile phones all three were arrested for the double
00:43:46
homicide and rajash tawa was released from jail by this time he had spent 50 days behind
00:43:54
bars despite having obtained three confessions to the crime the CBI was left with a major problem
00:44:06
all of the confessions had been made under what is known in India as the narco-analysis test
00:44:13
this test involves the subject being injected with sodium pentathol which some refer to as truth serum
00:44:22
this drug renders the suspect sedated in a trans-like state it's believed that in such a state their
00:44:30
imagination is neutralized and therefore they are only capable of telling the truth
00:44:35
they also exhibit no resistance to being questioned law enforcement agencies in India have
00:44:43
been permitted to use narco-analysis as an investigative tool similar to a polygraph test but like a polygraph
00:44:50
results of anarco-analysis are not permitted as evidence in a court of law this is because the altered state of
00:44:58
consciousness experienced by the suspect renders them more susceptible to influence and incapable of judging the
00:45:05
consequences of what they're saying the science behind narco-analysis is dubious and the results from such tests
00:45:13
are often inconsistent investigators had filmed the suspects being interrogated while under
00:45:21
narco-analysis and to these videos were later leaked to the Press they showed the man barely conscious and
00:45:28
mumbling answers to questions that were often leading krishna's supposed motive of wanting
00:45:35
revenge against his employer after being told off at work also seemed weak compared to the brutality of the crimes
00:45:43
his family said that Krishna had been forced to undergo narco-analysis against his will and was also beaten by
00:45:51
investigators they believed he was the victim of anti-nepeese prejudice all three men also claimed to have
00:46:01
Alibis for the night of the murders krishna's family and landlord said he'd been at home
00:46:08
Vijay mundow's employer said the same for him Anita darani who was Raj Kumar's employer and the target of the original
00:46:17
Noida police investigation could vouch for Raj Kumar also being at home until at least 12 30 am
00:46:25
he might have snuck out after everyone went to bed but it would take him at least 20 minutes to reach the Tawas
00:46:32
residence and that didn't fit with the investigation's timeline CBI agents hoped that they would find
00:46:40
something tangible that tied the trio to the double homicide such as fingerprints
00:46:45
or DNA from the crime scene but nothing emerged testing of the blood on the kukri found
00:46:53
in krishna's home revealed that it wasn't human though it couldn't be determined what kind of animal it came
00:47:00
from either the blade also seemed too blunt to have resulted in the cuts to the victim's
00:47:06
throats in any case it no longer seemed that the CBI had found one of the murder weapons
00:47:15
and during early September all three suspects were released from custody due to a lack of evidence
00:47:26
[Music] after the release of the three Nepalese suspects the case faltered sensationalist stories still ran in the
00:47:39
media but from an investigative point of view it had reached a standstill then one year later in September 2009
00:47:48
there was a breakthrough arashi talwa's black Nokia n72 phone was traced to a house in the city of
00:47:57
Valencia hair located 60 kilometers east of Delhi a man by the name of ram bull was using
00:48:04
the device with a new SIM card when police spoke to Ram he said his sister had found the phone in May of the
00:48:12
previous year she worked as a maid close to where the towers had lived a few days after the Noida murders she
00:48:20
spotted the phone on a dirt track a few kilometers away she pocketed the device and gifted it to
00:48:27
her brother but he hadn't started using it until the following year after purchasing a new SIM card
00:48:33
neither of them had any idea that it had belonged to the murdered teenager police were able to verify the sibling
00:48:43
stories and ruled them out as Suspects an examination of arushi's phone found no photos text messages or data
00:48:53
but the discovery of the Nokia alone seemed to disprove the cbi's theory that hemraj's three acquaintances committed
00:49:01
the murders all three men had said both phones were destroyed now there was evidence indicating their
00:49:09
admissions were unreliable this development seemed to result in a shake-up at the CBI
00:49:18
that same month in September 2009 the cases lead investigator was removed with the agency citing that his tenure had
00:49:26
simply ended then the investigation into the murders of arushi talwar and hemraj benjadi was
00:49:34
handed over to a new team right away the second CBI team took a very different approach to their
00:49:43
predecessors the new investigators focused first on eroshi's autopsy report Dr Sunil dohare had completed the
00:49:53
postmortem and found no evidence of a sexual assault or injury stating that there was nothing abnormal about
00:50:00
arushi's genitalia swabs taken from her vagina had no trace of semen in October 2008 Dr dohare had given a
00:50:12
second statement to the original CBI team this time he added a line that read and during post-mortem examination I
00:50:23
observed that the vaginal cavity of the deceased was dilated this sentence caught the attention of
00:50:31
the second CBI team Dr dohare was asked to provide them with another statement which would be his
00:50:39
third this time he went into greater detail writing on external examination the vaginal
00:50:48
opening was found prominently wide open vaginal cavity and cervix was clearly visible Hyman was ruptured and healed
00:50:57
old [Music] the doctor's observations seemed to imply that arushi had likely been
00:51:04
engaged in sexual intercourse around the time of her murder later he would more explicitly say that
00:51:12
he thought her vagina had been washed to remove any evidence of such activity his reference to her hymen was an
00:51:20
allusion to her having lost her virginity well before the attack despite the fact that a hymen can be ruptured in
00:51:26
other ways and is no indication of sexual experience Dr dohare said he hadn't bothered to
00:51:34
mention these details in his original report because the findings were quote non-specific and a very strange
00:51:43
he had also never completed an autopsy on a female body before so he didn't realize such things should have been
00:51:50
recorded the doctor who completed hemorrhage's autopsy was also called upon again
00:52:00
speaking to the new lead investigator he noted that the cut to hamraj's throat was consistent with a very sharp-edged
00:52:07
light instrument when asked about the significance of hemraj and arushi's matching neck wounds
00:52:14
the doctor added The Identical position of the injury and the skill with which the cut was made
00:52:21
clearly Point towards a surgically trained person investigators concluded that a scalpel
00:52:29
had most likely been used to slash the victim's throats and to noted that as dentists the talwars had surgical
00:52:36
experience examining the crime scene photos investigators also came to the conclusion that the weapon used to hit
00:52:45
both victims in the head was a golf club this was why they had you or v-shaped injuries
00:52:53
as it happened arushi's father Rajesh was an amateur golfer and owned a set of clubs which were kept in hemraj's
00:53:01
quarters a forensics expert was asked to analyze the crime scene based on photographs and
00:53:08
a visit to the apartment which the Tawas had along since vacated after studying pictures of arusha's
00:53:16
blood-stained bedroom he pointed out that there appeared to be two distinct impact splatters on the wall behind the
00:53:22
Bed Head he believed this meant they had come from two different victims meaning
00:53:29
arushi and hemraj were attacked in the same room at the same time this supported the theory that the pair
00:53:37
were together in bed when they were murdered then the killer dragged hemraj's body up
00:53:43
to the Terrace to conceal it blood found on the staircase leading to the Terrace was seen to confirm this
00:53:52
the fact that the stuffed toys on arushi's bed had no blood on them pointed to the killer dressing the crime
00:53:58
scene after the murders the way they had covered arushi's body with a blanket and her favorite bag also
00:54:05
suggested a personal connection to the victim to the new team of investigators all the
00:54:12
evidence was pointing back to a theory the Noida police had cited from the start
00:54:18
arushi talwa had been having an intimate relationship with hemraj banjati and the
00:54:23
two were victims of an honor killing on Monday May 24 2010 which would have been arushi's 16th birthday an article
00:54:36
about the new investigation was published in English language newspaper the pioneer
00:54:43
quoting several unnamed CBI sources the story hinted that Rajesh talwa was again
00:54:49
being considered as a suspect Rajesh objected to the article prompting the CBI to deny ever speaking with the
00:54:58
publication seven months later in December the agency concluded their investigation and
00:55:04
released a final report on the case in it they officially cleared Krishna tatara Raj Kumar and Vijay mandal of any
00:55:15
involvement as well as pointing to the Trio's Alibis investigators said the servants wouldn't
00:55:21
have dared drink alcohol late at night in the home of one of their employers the CBI also ruled out the possibility
00:55:29
that an intruder committed the crimes citing the lack of forced entry or motive it was pointed out that an intruder
00:55:38
would have no reason to hide hemraj's body or stage arashi's room ultimately the CBI concluded that
00:55:47
circumstantial evidence pointed to Rajesh talwa committing the murders in a fit of rage after finding hemraj in bed
00:55:54
with his daughter his wife nupor was accused of helping to cover up the crime only those who lived in the apartment
00:56:03
would have the time and access required to clean arushi remove any trace of hemorrhage from her room and staged the
00:56:11
scene however there was a total lack of physical evidence due in part to the original investigators failing to secure
00:56:20
the crime scene while it was suspected that Rajesh had used one of his golf clubs and to
00:56:27
scalpel to carry out the attack there was nothing to prove this they had no blood-stained clothing
00:56:33
fingerprints or DNA confirming Rajesh was the Killer consequently the CBI recommended that
00:56:42
the case be closed without charging the talwars Rajesh and Newport talwa were devastated
00:56:52
by this turn of events although they were not being charged the report made shocking allegations against
00:56:59
them the couple decided to file a petition asserting their innocence and demanding
00:57:05
that the case remain open on Tuesday January 25 2011 as the pair made their way to a magistrates court
00:57:14
that exclusively looked at CBI cases they were followed by crowds of police and TV news crews
00:57:22
public interest in the Noida double murder was as strong as ever suddenly a Young Man rushed from the
00:57:30
crowd towards Rajesh talwa he was carrying a meat cleaver he swung the Claver at rajesh's face
00:57:39
slashing his right Shake Rajesh raised his hands to protect himself and the man swung again
00:57:46
this time he broke one of rajash's fingers and badly wounded his hands the perpetrator was quickly overpowered
00:57:55
and Rajesh was rescued but suffered a sliced artery cut tendons and a severed facial nerve
00:58:02
his right Shake was permanently scarred the perpetrator was a 29 year old vigilante named utsav Sharma who had
00:58:13
previously attacked a former police chief Sharma said he was angry about the slow
00:58:18
progress in the Noida case [Music] while Rajesh was recovering from the violent attack the court case proceeded
00:58:28
after considering the talwa's petition the magistrate dismissed it and went a step further
00:58:36
she turned to the cbi's closure report into a charge sheet declaring that there was enough evidence to charge the couple
00:58:43
for arushi and hemraj's murders Rajesh and Newport talwa were ordered to stand to trial
00:58:56
the telwas appealed the order first at the state's high court and then at the Supreme Court
00:59:03
they lost to both appeals and their trial began in May 2013. five years after their daughter's murder
00:59:11
as well as having to answer two counts of murder they were charged with destroying evidence
00:59:18
the prosecutor presented the court with the cbi's theory of how the murders had unfolded
00:59:24
while Rajesh was still up and using the internet in the early hours of May 16 2008 he heard a noise and went to
00:59:32
investigate first he went to hemraj's quarters and was surprised to find them empty
00:59:40
while there he heard another noise and realized it was coming from arushi's room
00:59:46
Rajesh grabbed a golf club from the bag where they were stored and ran to his daughter's bedroom
00:59:52
finding arushi and hemraj in bed together Rajesh lashed out he hit hemraj in the head with the golf
01:00:00
club as he went to deal a second blow hamraj moved to avoid it leading the club to
01:00:07
hit arashi instead meanwhile Nepal was woken by all the commotion that was going on just seven
01:00:15
feet away the CBI believed it was impossible for her to miss when her bed was one room
01:00:22
away and less than eight feet from arushi's she went to her daughter's room and saw
01:00:28
the two victims lying near death with severe head injuries Newport and Rajesh agreed to cover up
01:00:36
the crime they wrapped hemraj in a bed sheet and dragged him to the Terrace where they
01:00:41
cut his throat before concealing him with the cooler panel the plan was to dispose of him properly
01:00:48
later to ensure the crimes looked identical they then cut their daughter's throat
01:00:55
before cleaning her body to hide any sign of sexual activity they also cleaned hemraj's blood from
01:01:03
the floor and disposed of any bloody clothing as well as the scalpel or similar weapon used to cut the victim's
01:01:10
throats afterwards Rajesh sat in the living room and drank some whiskey to calm down
01:01:19
a key witness for the prosecution was bhati Mandel the maid who had just started working for the Tawas at the
01:01:26
time of the murders she was the first person to arrive at the scene and said that when she tried
01:01:32
to open the first of three doors to the apartment it hadn't budged the CBI argued that the Tawas must have
01:01:40
latched the door from the inside this proved that they were the killers because an intruder wouldn't have been
01:01:47
able to do such a thing and still flee the apartment but he had asked to Newport to throw
01:01:54
down the keys to her so she could have let herself in the CBO I suspected that while bharti
01:02:01
waited below the balcony new poor entered the hallway and unlatched the first door so Barty could open it
01:02:09
after she threw down the keys but he returned to the first door this time it opened when she pressed her
01:02:16
hand against it other evidence the CBI called on was the large palm print made with hemraj's
01:02:24
blood on a Terrace wall and the smeared bloody fingerprints on the whiskey bottle
01:02:29
they said that Rajesh talwa had been wearing surgical gloves while carrying out the crime which left a larger than
01:02:36
usual handprint and made collecting fingerprints impossible the defense set about trying to refute
01:02:47
all of these points while cross-examining bati mandal about attempting to open the door to the
01:02:54
talwar's apartment she told them I'm stating whatever has been explained to me they took this to mean that she had been
01:03:04
coached by the CBI in a subsequent interview with the documentary film crew mbati said she
01:03:12
hadn't pushed the other door until after she had the keys which was contrary to her statement in court
01:03:18
[Music] the Tawas driver also testified that the outer door had a habit of sticking if
01:03:25
someone just pressed it lightly it might appear to be latched but you had to push
01:03:30
hard to open it after being charged the Tawas had requested that more evidence from the
01:03:37
crime scene be submitted for DNA touch testing including the bloody palm print left on the Terrace the golf club
01:03:44
believed to be the murder weapon and the whiskey bottle found in the living room
01:03:50
these requests were denied the defense still tried to argue against the whiskey bottle evidence pointing out
01:03:58
that it didn't make sense for Rajesh to leave it out if he was the Killer he could have simply stashed it in the
01:04:04
bar which was concealed inside a cabinet a killer outside the family was more likely to leave it out as they wouldn't
01:04:12
know where the secret bar was as for the cbi's claim that the Tawas must have heard the crime taking place
01:04:20
it had been the middle of summer and noisy air conditioners were running in both bedrooms
01:04:26
a sound simulation test ordered by the CBI had even found that it was possible that Tawas might not have heard what was
01:04:34
happening one room over experts also refuted the assertion that the victim's neck wounds had been made
01:04:42
using a light scalpel-like weapon with surgical precision due to the large size of the injuries it
01:04:50
seemed that a bigger blunter weapon was used a gynecologist gave evidence that disputed that of the Doctor Who had
01:04:59
performed arishi's autopsy his amended report claimed that arashi's vagina had been so dilated that he could
01:05:07
see her cervix the gynecologist testified that this was not possible unless Force had been used
01:05:15
after rigor mortis set in such force would result in noticeable injuries which were absent from arashi's
01:05:22
body none of hemraj's blood or DNA had been found in arashi's room the notion that the talwars had somehow
01:05:34
identified which blood was his and then succeeded in cleaning it all up while leaving arashi's untouched was labeled
01:05:41
absurd the defense argued that hemraj had been killed on the Terrace as originally
01:05:48
agreed the blood on the staircase leading up there hadn't come from the Tawas dragging his body but from arushi's
01:05:57
mattress some acquaintances of the Tawas who had been given police permission to clean
01:06:03
the apartment initially took it up there to dispose of it when they found the Terrace door locked
01:06:10
they left the mattress on a neighbor's Terrace instead the defense had an alternative suspect
01:06:18
in mind when they had gained access to the prosecution's evidence during preparation for the trial they
01:06:25
discovered a forensics report dated November 6 2008. it related to Adams belonging to the
01:06:33
Tawas former employee Krishna tatarai the original CBI team had collected the items while investigating Krishna and
01:06:42
two of his acquaintances for the crime one of the items was the kukri knife with blood from an unidentified animal
01:06:50
on it another was a purple pillowcase stained with several spots of blood according to the report DNA testing
01:07:00
revealed the blood belonged to hemraj banjadi the defense couldn't believe that this
01:07:08
evidence had somehow been overlooked for five years when they presented it during the Tawas
01:07:14
attempt to appeal the charges the CBI said it was simply a typographical error the pillowcase with blood on it had
01:07:23
actually been recovered from hemraj's room but it had been mislabeled as belonging to Krishna
01:07:29
with no further evidence to support one claim or the other the defense could not
01:07:34
use the pillowcase evidence at trial [Music] in late November 2013 six months after
01:07:44
the trial began the judge was ready to deliver a verdict he ruled that it had been proved Beyond
01:07:52
a reasonable doubt that Rajesh and nupo tawa had murdered Arusha and hemraj he also found them guilty of destroying
01:08:01
evidence to cover up the crime Rajesh and Nepal burst into tears upon hearing the verdict
01:08:10
the CBI had asked that they received the death penalty the judge sentenced them to life in
01:08:17
prison [Music] the talwas continued to maintain their innocence as did their supporters
01:08:26
Defenders of the couple pointed out that the murder weapon was never established
01:08:30
and there was no forensic evidence tying the couple to the crime so how could they have been convicted
01:08:36
beyond the Reasonable Doubt journalist Avi Roxanne who wrote a book about the case titled arushi accused the
01:08:46
judge of deciding on the verdict before the defense had finished presenting their case
01:08:53
found purpose in prison by setting up a dental clinic there with permission of the authorities
01:09:00
they treated their fellow inmates while waiting for their first appeal to be heard by the allahabad high court the
01:09:07
highest court in the state of uttar Pradesh almost four years after they were incarcerated the high court found that
01:09:15
the evidence presented by the CBI was not sufficient to find them guilty beyond their Reasonable Doubt
01:09:23
in a scathing 273-page report they said the CBI had miserably failed to find evidence to
01:09:31
support their theory of the crime Rajesh and nupo talwa were both acquitted of all charges and allowed to
01:09:39
return home some were angered by this decision the CBI announced their intention to
01:09:50
challenge the ruling at the Supreme Court the Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal but there have been no further
01:09:57
updates and the case remains unsolved as of mid-2023 [Music] in The Nepalese village where hemraj
01:10:06
banjati was from many of his family and friends are certain that the Tawas were guilty
01:10:15
has spoken publicly of her conviction that Rajesh talwa killed her husband who else would do this she asked in a
01:10:24
2017 documentary series titled arushi beyond the Reasonable Doubt kumkula believed that the initial theory
01:10:33
of the case that Rajesh had been having an affair and killed arushi after she found out
01:10:40
hemraj had witnessed the murder so Rajesh killed him too according to kumkula hemraj had cared
01:10:50
for arashi like she was his own daughter others who had known hemraj also vouched
01:10:56
for his kind and loyal character a woman who'd employed hemraj for 15 years prior to him joining the talwa
01:11:04
household said he had always been protective of her children to the point of intervening if she or her husband
01:11:10
were angry with them kumkola told the filmmakers how difficult her life was without hemrage
01:11:19
he had moved to India to find work and provide for his family but he made sure to return once or twice a year
01:11:27
he would stay for about a month before going back to India almost a decade after his death kunkula
01:11:35
still missed him constantly and found it hard to believe he was gone to make matters worse it felt like her
01:11:43
husband was the Forgotten victim of his own murder quote there's an emptiness in everything
01:11:51
how do I put it in words Dr talwa has money so everyone only talks about his daughter's murder
01:12:00
we are poor so who will stand up for us [Music] others see the talwars as victims of
01:12:10
corrupt policing agencies a flawed justice system and a media circus journalist and cousin of Newport SRI
01:12:19
paradka wrote an article about the case for Toronto Star she'd explained that date assumed the
01:12:26
CBI was independent of the State Police who botched the first investigation but it turned out the CBI officers who
01:12:35
charged the talwars were colleagues of the Noida police issues of class and social mores may
01:12:43
have contributed to the Tawas prosecution the couple were Urban middle class professionals who spoke English and were
01:12:51
University educated they had Fairly liberal values and a relationship with their daughter that
01:12:57
was more open and easy going than many Indians were accustomed to arushi was permitted to talk to boys go
01:13:06
out with friends and could be cheeky with her parents [Music] most of the police officers and CBI
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investigators responsible for the case came from more conservative backgrounds elements of the tawa's lives which were
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quite normal for middle-class Indian families appeared foreign and troubling to them
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their Cosmopolitan lifestyle led to allegations that the couple had affairs and engaged in swinging
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[Music] the fact that Rajesh and Newport didn't cry in public after their daughter's
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murder also seemed suspicious when confronted by this they argued that no one saw how much they cried every day
01:13:49
in the privacy of their home [Music] when journalist Avi rooksen visited the Tawas at their home they showed him
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keepsakes they had of their daughter these included a letter arushi had written to Santa Claus for what would
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turn out to be her final Christmas it read Dear Santa Merry Christmas to you I know you will be tired from running
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here and there giving children what they wanted but I want something totally different I want the well-being of my
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family I want no harm to reach them please fulfill my wish my second wish is that I want my parents
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to always be with me and my friends too my third wish is a bit silly I want a dog not from you but from my parents I
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wish they'd agree reflecting on the letter Rajesh said in a sad voice he didn't fulfill even one of her wishes
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Diddy [Music] [Music] [Music]