Relieved over verdict, we went through trying times: Talwar family

NEW DELHI: The nine-year trial in the murder of their daughter Aarushi had left the Talwar couple emotionally drained, Nupur Talwar's father said on Thursday, thanking the judiciary for acquitting them.

BG Chitnis, a former group captain in the Indian Air Force, said it was very trying for him to see his daughter, Nupur and her husband Rajesh behind bars.

"I am grateful to the judiciary for the verdict. They (the Talwar couple) have really suffered. They are emotionally drained. At my age it was very trying to see my daughter behind bars," he told reporters here.

Vandana Talwar, Aarushi's aunt, said the entire family had suffered for nearly a decade as the case dragged on.

"It was very exhausting and trying ...," she said.

She refused to go into the merits of the case and the judgment, saying the couple's lawyers would answer questions on who killed Aarushi and their domestic help Hemraj.

"We are deeply grateful to the judiciary and relieved over the verdict. I would like to thank all the supporters who supported us through the long ordeal," she said.

The Allahabad High Court on Thursday acquitted the Talwar couple, saying they could not be held guilty on the basis of the evidence on record.

The verdict ends the ordeal of the parents+ who were found guilty by a CBI court in the sensational double murder case.

A division bench of the court comprising justices BK Narayana and AK Mishra upheld the appeals by the Talwars against the Ghaziabad CBI court order sentencing them to life imprisonment on November 26, 2013.

Their lawyer Rebecca John said the evidence presented by the CBI "did not stand judicial scrutiny and that is the end of it".

Pinaki Misra, another defence counsel, said the CBI court judgment was "absolutely perverse and the High Court has set it aside correctly".

Aarushi was found dead inside her room in the Talwars' Noida residence with her throat slit in May 2008. The needle of suspicion had initially moved towards 45-year-old Hemraj, who had gone missing but his body was recovered from the terrace of the house a day later.

The murders of Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj gripped the imagination of the nation, indeed several other parts of the world. The interest even resulted in the critically acclaimed film, Talvar , which was distributed by Junglee Pictures and produced by Vineet Jain and Vishal Bhardwaj. The film was directed by Meghna Gulzar.

Vishal Bhardwaj and Meghna Gulzar hailed the Allahabad High Court verdict acquitting the parents.

"Justice delayed is NOT justice denied. Overwhelmed and deeply relieved upon hearing the news of the acquittal. #AarushiVerdict #Talwars," Bhardwaj tweeted.

Meghna called the verdict a "triumph of justice".

"I just feel that the truth has finally prevailed. It is a triumph of justice. I can only imagine what the parents must have gone through," she said.

"I did not do that film to tell the story of a particular side. Our intention all along was to see that all the versions of the case are out in the open. I think this is what has happened in this appeal. The facts and testimonies were examined very carefully and rationally," she added.

In Video: Deeply grateful for the verdict, says Aarushi Talwar's family