A suspect becomes a victim in a brutal double homicide | Forensic Files

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

Case 253: Aarushi Talwar & Hemraj Banjade *** Content warning: child victim, sexual assault ***

When Rajesh and Nupur Talwar went to wake their 13-year-old daughter Aarushi on the morning of Friday, May 16 2008, the couple were shocked to find her brutally murdered in her bed.

Police in their Delhi suburb of Noida were summoned, and the Talwars wasted no time in naming their 45-year-old servant, Hemraj Banjade, as a suspect. But when a second body was found in their apartment, investigators began to wonder if the perpetrator was someone closer to home…

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Erin Munro Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

SOCIAL LINKS

Website https://www.casefilepodcast.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/casefile Twitter https://twitter.com/case_file Instagram https://www.instagram.com/casefilepodcast Patreon https://www.patreon.com/casefile Casefile Presents https://casefilepresents.com

RESOURCES

For all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-253-aarushi-talwar-hemraj-banjade

Brief Summary

The episode recounts the double murder of Arushi Talwar and Hemraj Banjade, exploring the investigation and trial of her parents as suspects.

Key points

The Discovery of Arushi's Body. Arushi's body is found in her bedroom, leading to chaos and grief in the household.
The Search for Hemraj. The Talwars suspect their servant Hemraj of murdering their daughter after he goes missing.
The Shocking Murder. Arushi's brutal murder sends shockwaves through the community, leading to a media frenzy.
The Night of the Murders. Anmol was the last person to contact Arushi before her murder.
Police Interrogation. Anmol's interrogation reveals tensions and secrets about Arushi's relationships.
Media Frenzy. The case received exceptional media attention due to the Tawas' social status.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Look at what they've done to your friend.

Rajesh Talwar's emotional reaction to seeing Arushi's friends at her funeral.

16:27WatchJul 1, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from Casefile

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.