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Introduction to Journalism- Project
Voyeurism of the Media: Aneurysm of the Aarushi Talwar Case
The Noida Double Murder Case, also popularly known as the Aarushi Talwar Murder Case is one of India’s most high profile, controversial, sensitive and disputed murder cases. It has been one hell of a ride for this case, which has been thrown around and churned till we got the most shocking results in the most spiteful way. A case, which took 5 years to reach a verdict, one state police force involved, two federal investigative teams looking for sufficient proof and links to find out what actually happened that night, a dozen of suspects and innumerable number of witnesses which made the case very tricky. Mistakes made both by the Law enforcers and justice givers of the country and also by the Fourth estate and the huge role they played in this whole manifestation.
The events of the case are as follows; On the dreadful night of May 16,2008 teenager, Aarushi Talwar, 13 years of age, was found dead on her bed in Noida with cuts on her head and her throat severely slit. Their personal help, Hemraj Banjade was reported missing, and the media reported the police saying he is the culprit. Next day, May 17, 2008 the initial suspect Hemraj’s body was found rotting on the terrace for a day now. The Inspector General declares the case solved and says that “(Rajesh) Talwar was having an extramarital affair which Aarushi knew about...Talwar resented the closeness between Aarushi and Hemraj... Dr Rajesh had gone out around 9: 30pm on May 15 and when he came home at around 11-11:30, he found Aarushi and Hemraj in an objectionable, though not compromising, position... He killed her in a fit of rage even though he is as characterless as his daughter was.” On May 23, 2008 Aarushi’s father was arrested on the grounds of carrying a business card of a Supreme Court judge, but later it was discovered that the judge was only a client of the Talwar’s. On May 24, 2008 Nupur Talwar, Aarushi’s mother goes on national television with her story but her daring face which she put up throughout the interview gave rise to new doubts by the media and the viewers. The Talwar’s seek help of the CBI after the Inspector General passes derogatory comments on the case; the case was handed over to a high profile Joint Director, Arun Kumar. On June 13 2008, the Talwar’s clinic assistant, Krishna was arrested as he was the only one who alleged that Hemraj and Aarushi was having an affair, and Rajesh Talwar had apparently scolded him the day before the murder happened.
On July 11, 2008 the CBI pronounce the parents not guilty and the director, Arun Kumar says that two other servants are prime suspects of the case. The three apparently planned to assault Aarushi sexually and when Hemraj stood up against them, they took him upstairs and killed him before coming down to kill her. But soon there was no admissible evidence against them. On July 11,2008 rajesh’s release on bail is painstakingly covered by the media. On September 12, 2008 the clinic assistant Krishna and the two other accused was also released after the CBI failed to charge them even after 90 days of arrests. On September 9,2009 a new CBI team was formed and the case was started afresh. On September 30,2009 Aarushi’s autopsy report change, "Vaginal opening found prominently wide open," says doctor who conducted the original post-mortem report. That report had said "Nothing Abnormal Detected", He later adds this wide opening implies it was cleaned up; therefore suggesting the crime scene was orchestrated by the parents themselves.
On December 29, 2010 the CBI finally comes to the conclusion and blames the parents against presumed evidence, the CBI closes the case due to lack of substantial evidence. On January 25, 2011 the Talwar’s urge the CBI court to continue with the investigations. During a break, Rajesh Talwar’s face got slashed by an unknown person, cutting his facial artery and a finger off. February 9, 2011 The CBI court decides that the report I enough to make Aarushi’s parents stand trial. The Talwar’s appeal to the high court and lose, hence they move up and appeals to the supreme court. March 1,2011 new evidence of a document in CBI files said that Hemraj's blood found on earlier suspect Krishna's pillow. The Talwars took this to the High Court to show support for the evidence connected to the victim. March 18,2011 the CBI defends themselves saying that there was an error in the identification of the pillow cover, apparently the cover came from Hemraj’s own room, not Krishna’s. No documents were provided for the same. March 24,2011 a letter was submitted by the forensic lab acknowledging ‘typo’, six days later after the CBI declared this error. January 7,2012 the supreme court rejects final appeal and are ordered to stand for trial. April 30,2012 Nupur Talwar jailed on the grounds of tampering with the witness. March 24, CBI formally charges the Talwar’s with murder,conspiracy and destruction of evidence. June 4,2012 the CBI starts the trial and has 141 witnesses to scrutinize. August 30,2012 CBI forensics expert testifies that the pillow was found in Aarushi’s room thus proving they were together. September 17,2012 Nupur Talwar gets bail. September 26,2012 she was released.In November 2013, the High Court sentenced the couple to life imprisonment. The Talwar’s have now challenged their decision in the Allahabad High Court.
The Aarushi Talwar case has once again proved how media is a peeping tom which led to the case busting like a blood vessel. The media’s game of introspection led to massive damages, which led to dicey situations. The entire game of ‘blame-storming’ made a mess of the entire case and made it very difficult for both the judicial system and the investigative teams involved in it. At the initial stages of the case the media was already out with their own verdict even before the case was presented in front of the court. And this did not take place once, but quite a few numbers of times. The media often mistakes it role of being the informer and thinks that it has taken the role of the justice giver, and the same happened in this case also. The media tried to play a role in handing out justice to Aarushi but just ended up doing nothing but making the whole case more sensationalized.
The wrong doer was pointed out as many by the media, and it was an unending list, even the neighbor’s help was not spared. First was Hemraj, who was wrongly pointed out as the culprit but was later found dead the next day. The next was Rajesh Talwar’s scandalous relationship with another woman, which was also another media masala story. Even news channels who were equally involved in this whole game started blaming each other without looking at themselves first. The whole case had become nothing but a TRP gaining machine, and Aarushi a subject of the media to play with just to create ‘news’. Apparently when Rajesh Talwar was given a clean chit by the court the media still watched every step of his at the Dasna jail. Even after that the case was still on news even the slightest things were being observed and scrutinized by the media. Even on the day of Rajesh Talwar’s release, a hundred cameras were waiting outside the jail and even followed them to the temple where the talwar’s were praying and even set-up a camp outside their father-in-law’s house to pry on them. When Rajesh Talwar was behind the bars, charges of sexual curiosity, intimation and many personal reasons which were mostly baseless, SMSs were received and sent , and emails between Aarushi and her parents have been framed and flown. Even though some newspapers tried not to publish any sensitive matter without proper verification, yet there were newspapers and media channels who went around beating the drums about how they were so ’efficient’ in their reporting that they found out ‘facts’ even before the police and the CBI did. Some channels even went around giving out MMSs of Aarushi getting undressed in the presence of an unknown man, which was of course not she. Anchors of certain news channels even used derogatory terms like ‘khooni baap’ referring which are against journalism ethics. Nothing for the media was personal or private, when it came to this case. The more than detailed coverage of the media, was completely unnecessary and they got so deeply involved that they lost the basic ethic of objectivity, of what should be reported and what should not. Every personal detail of the 14 year old was leaked out by the media starting from her relationship with the domestic help, Hemraj, her relationship with her parents, her nature and character, fake MMs to even what nail art she used to do, all these things affected the real content of the news.
Media today is regarded as one of the pillars to support our country. It plays a huge role in shaping the viewpoints if the society through which people perceive various news Now the media has taken up additional charges in her role of playing the justice giver and the protector of some sort. We can see in today’s age how the media misuses the entire concept of the free media and their independence that they forget where to draw the line. The media built its own separate investigation, and builds and shapes public opinion even before the court takes up the case.It produces preconception and sometimes even judges, which in turn results in wrong decisions and portrays the innocent as guilty.
Bibliography:
1.http://www.thestar.com/news/stardisp...r_aarushi.html
2. http://theviewspaper.net/aarushi-mur...able-question/
3. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/a.../1/327159.html
4. http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/19...entertainment/
Voyeurism of the Media: Aneurysm of the Aarushi Talwar Case
The Noida Double Murder Case, also popularly known as the Aarushi Talwar Murder Case is one of India’s most high profile, controversial, sensitive and disputed murder cases. It has been one hell of a ride for this case, which has been thrown around and churned till we got the most shocking results in the most spiteful way. A case, which took 5 years to reach a verdict, one state police force involved, two federal investigative teams looking for sufficient proof and links to find out what actually happened that night, a dozen of suspects and innumerable number of witnesses which made the case very tricky. Mistakes made both by the Law enforcers and justice givers of the country and also by the Fourth estate and the huge role they played in this whole manifestation.
The events of the case are as follows; On the dreadful night of May 16,2008 teenager, Aarushi Talwar, 13 years of age, was found dead on her bed in Noida with cuts on her head and her throat severely slit. Their personal help, Hemraj Banjade was reported missing, and the media reported the police saying he is the culprit. Next day, May 17, 2008 the initial suspect Hemraj’s body was found rotting on the terrace for a day now. The Inspector General declares the case solved and says that “(Rajesh) Talwar was having an extramarital affair which Aarushi knew about...Talwar resented the closeness between Aarushi and Hemraj... Dr Rajesh had gone out around 9: 30pm on May 15 and when he came home at around 11-11:30, he found Aarushi and Hemraj in an objectionable, though not compromising, position... He killed her in a fit of rage even though he is as characterless as his daughter was.” On May 23, 2008 Aarushi’s father was arrested on the grounds of carrying a business card of a Supreme Court judge, but later it was discovered that the judge was only a client of the Talwar’s. On May 24, 2008 Nupur Talwar, Aarushi’s mother goes on national television with her story but her daring face which she put up throughout the interview gave rise to new doubts by the media and the viewers. The Talwar’s seek help of the CBI after the Inspector General passes derogatory comments on the case; the case was handed over to a high profile Joint Director, Arun Kumar. On June 13 2008, the Talwar’s clinic assistant, Krishna was arrested as he was the only one who alleged that Hemraj and Aarushi was having an affair, and Rajesh Talwar had apparently scolded him the day before the murder happened.
On July 11, 2008 the CBI pronounce the parents not guilty and the director, Arun Kumar says that two other servants are prime suspects of the case. The three apparently planned to assault Aarushi sexually and when Hemraj stood up against them, they took him upstairs and killed him before coming down to kill her. But soon there was no admissible evidence against them. On July 11,2008 rajesh’s release on bail is painstakingly covered by the media. On September 12, 2008 the clinic assistant Krishna and the two other accused was also released after the CBI failed to charge them even after 90 days of arrests. On September 9,2009 a new CBI team was formed and the case was started afresh. On September 30,2009 Aarushi’s autopsy report change, "Vaginal opening found prominently wide open," says doctor who conducted the original post-mortem report. That report had said "Nothing Abnormal Detected", He later adds this wide opening implies it was cleaned up; therefore suggesting the crime scene was orchestrated by the parents themselves.
On December 29, 2010 the CBI finally comes to the conclusion and blames the parents against presumed evidence, the CBI closes the case due to lack of substantial evidence. On January 25, 2011 the Talwar’s urge the CBI court to continue with the investigations. During a break, Rajesh Talwar’s face got slashed by an unknown person, cutting his facial artery and a finger off. February 9, 2011 The CBI court decides that the report I enough to make Aarushi’s parents stand trial. The Talwar’s appeal to the high court and lose, hence they move up and appeals to the supreme court. March 1,2011 new evidence of a document in CBI files said that Hemraj's blood found on earlier suspect Krishna's pillow. The Talwars took this to the High Court to show support for the evidence connected to the victim. March 18,2011 the CBI defends themselves saying that there was an error in the identification of the pillow cover, apparently the cover came from Hemraj’s own room, not Krishna’s. No documents were provided for the same. March 24,2011 a letter was submitted by the forensic lab acknowledging ‘typo’, six days later after the CBI declared this error. January 7,2012 the supreme court rejects final appeal and are ordered to stand for trial. April 30,2012 Nupur Talwar jailed on the grounds of tampering with the witness. March 24, CBI formally charges the Talwar’s with murder,conspiracy and destruction of evidence. June 4,2012 the CBI starts the trial and has 141 witnesses to scrutinize. August 30,2012 CBI forensics expert testifies that the pillow was found in Aarushi’s room thus proving they were together. September 17,2012 Nupur Talwar gets bail. September 26,2012 she was released.In November 2013, the High Court sentenced the couple to life imprisonment. The Talwar’s have now challenged their decision in the Allahabad High Court.
The Aarushi Talwar case has once again proved how media is a peeping tom which led to the case busting like a blood vessel. The media’s game of introspection led to massive damages, which led to dicey situations. The entire game of ‘blame-storming’ made a mess of the entire case and made it very difficult for both the judicial system and the investigative teams involved in it. At the initial stages of the case the media was already out with their own verdict even before the case was presented in front of the court. And this did not take place once, but quite a few numbers of times. The media often mistakes it role of being the informer and thinks that it has taken the role of the justice giver, and the same happened in this case also. The media tried to play a role in handing out justice to Aarushi but just ended up doing nothing but making the whole case more sensationalized.
The wrong doer was pointed out as many by the media, and it was an unending list, even the neighbor’s help was not spared. First was Hemraj, who was wrongly pointed out as the culprit but was later found dead the next day. The next was Rajesh Talwar’s scandalous relationship with another woman, which was also another media masala story. Even news channels who were equally involved in this whole game started blaming each other without looking at themselves first. The whole case had become nothing but a TRP gaining machine, and Aarushi a subject of the media to play with just to create ‘news’. Apparently when Rajesh Talwar was given a clean chit by the court the media still watched every step of his at the Dasna jail. Even after that the case was still on news even the slightest things were being observed and scrutinized by the media. Even on the day of Rajesh Talwar’s release, a hundred cameras were waiting outside the jail and even followed them to the temple where the talwar’s were praying and even set-up a camp outside their father-in-law’s house to pry on them. When Rajesh Talwar was behind the bars, charges of sexual curiosity, intimation and many personal reasons which were mostly baseless, SMSs were received and sent , and emails between Aarushi and her parents have been framed and flown. Even though some newspapers tried not to publish any sensitive matter without proper verification, yet there were newspapers and media channels who went around beating the drums about how they were so ’efficient’ in their reporting that they found out ‘facts’ even before the police and the CBI did. Some channels even went around giving out MMSs of Aarushi getting undressed in the presence of an unknown man, which was of course not she. Anchors of certain news channels even used derogatory terms like ‘khooni baap’ referring which are against journalism ethics. Nothing for the media was personal or private, when it came to this case. The more than detailed coverage of the media, was completely unnecessary and they got so deeply involved that they lost the basic ethic of objectivity, of what should be reported and what should not. Every personal detail of the 14 year old was leaked out by the media starting from her relationship with the domestic help, Hemraj, her relationship with her parents, her nature and character, fake MMs to even what nail art she used to do, all these things affected the real content of the news.
Media today is regarded as one of the pillars to support our country. It plays a huge role in shaping the viewpoints if the society through which people perceive various news Now the media has taken up additional charges in her role of playing the justice giver and the protector of some sort. We can see in today’s age how the media misuses the entire concept of the free media and their independence that they forget where to draw the line. The media built its own separate investigation, and builds and shapes public opinion even before the court takes up the case.It produces preconception and sometimes even judges, which in turn results in wrong decisions and portrays the innocent as guilty.
Bibliography:
1.http://www.thestar.com/news/stardisp...r_aarushi.html
2. http://theviewspaper.net/aarushi-mur...able-question/
3. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/a.../1/327159.html
4. http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/19...entertainment/