THE DUST refuses to settle on this tragic and baffling double murder case in Noida. Just when the nation was about to heave a sigh of collective relief at the police’s announcement of the arrest of the father, Dr Rajesh Talwar, as the main suspect another round of speculation has begun. The credibility of the investigating authorities has taken a further beating with the IG police being accused of exhibiting a deeply biased and conservative mindset by commenting on the character of the father as well as the murdered daughter.
As a confused nation listens to every twist and turn of the case disturbing questions arise about how this case is being investigated by the cops, covered by the media and followed by the people. It is a little late in the day to deny that this has been a trial by the media, but it would be worthwhile to see just how this has become a trial by the media. Since the newspapers and the television channels are the ones that bring all the news and breakthroughs to us they have got have been at the receiving end of most of the outrage of the intellectuals, social activists and the legal eagles.
Let us see how, why and when did this case turn into a media circus and subsequently a trial by the media. It all started very normally with reporters hanging around the scene to pick up bits of news about any breakthrough in a crime that unfortunately is all too common in the National Capital Region (NCR) region.
The first blunders came from the cops who landed at the Talwar residence when the crime was reported to them. Instead of functioning as a competent investigative team with the forensic experts, a sniffer dog and a camera man etc the cops just bought the story of the father that the servant was missing and therefore the natural culprit. The ease with, which they were deflected from the task of investigation of the crime scene is shocking to say the least. This opened the flood gates not only for relevant questions about the police’s competence, but also for rampant speculation. A whole platoon of fresh faced, excited reporters stepped into the vacuum, left by the police, and thus we had one and all visiting the scene of crime, tromping up the infamous 17 steps to the terrace that the police failed to climb on day one.
The whispers started in earnest and very quickly turned into a national cacophony. Who did it? Who locked the door? Who was hiding what? This is a natural human reaction in such circumstance,s but in this age of 24/7 connectivity and a plethora of channels, blogs and internet sites it turned into a macabre and voyeuristic interest into every detail and rumour about the case. For once, perhaps, we lost interest in the TV soaps as we pondered if Hemraj did it, Vishnu did it, robbers did it the clinic staff did it and finally whether the family did it?
If this was America and there was a jury to be selected for the trial it would be a jury selector’s worst nightmare. Where the case would be shifted in order to find jurors who had as yet not made up their minds one way or the other is anybody’s guess. The reporters have been particularly insinuating in the way they have framed their questions to ordinary, hapless domestic staff and neighbours. The questions have craftily been framed so as to contain within them the suggested answer. Not used to the glare of the cameras and the media hoopla the people have fallen straight into the trap and provided the gleeful reporters the answers that they wanted their audiences to hear. The questioning of the Talwar’s maidservant both inside and outside of the studio is a typical example of the kind of sensationalism that the media has tried to generate. Some TV channels went to ridiculous lengths to keep this case in the public’s attention by resorting to the most puerile form of reporting. There is news that a, particularly inappropriate and irrelevant, MMS clip of the murdered girl was aired for sometime by a channel.
If the media had not done enough to brainwash us into deciding who we thought was the murderer, senior cops like the IG Gurdarshan Singh stepped in to ensure that the public trial (outside of a courtroom) of all those involved was complete. We have had the IG making (so far unproved and totally speculative) allegations about the kind of relationship that Aarushi shared with the domestic helper, Hemraj. Enraptured by his two minutes of fame on national television the good cop went on to call the father and daughter, both, people of loose character. Anita Durrani was unveiled on live TV as the ‘other woman’ in the case. Even a young friend only 17 years of age was not spared and he was named by police in direct contravention of international norms where all efforts are taken to protect the identity of the under aged. His mobile number was incessantly flashed on TV screens. How this young boy is going to cope with the unwanted attention at this young age is anybody’s guess.
As if this was not enough, now the main characters involved in this case are appearing on TV one by one to give their side of the story. Anita Durrani, her husband and Aarushi’s mother have so far appeared on the channels. Maybe sensing that this case will be decided not so much in a court of law but, in the mind space of the public, they have come out to make their ‘defense arguments’ through the media.
This case has exposed not only the main accused to a trial by media, but also those hauled into the ring merely by association. If we were honest enough to admit, we would agree that we all have now our take on:
The kind of nuclear affluent family the Talwars are (or were till the fateful night of May 15)
The kind of parents Rajesh and Nupur were to Aarushi
The kind of young girl Aarushi was
The kind of relationships she shared with her friends and her servant
The kind of relationship she shared with her young friend
The state of the marriage of the Talwars
The state of the marriage of the Durranis
The nature of the relationship that the Durranis and the Talwars shared
What will finally transpire when (and if) charges are framed against Dr Rajesh and whoever else the cops suspect of being the killers? What if any of the currently accused of marital infidelity and covering up for the main accused turn out to be innocent? Who will patch up the many broken lives that this case is likely to leave in its wake?
And before we rub our hands in glee at having nailed and blamed the media and the police for conducting a trial via media, we need to do a reality check. Are we really completely free of any blame? Sitting in the comfort of our homes, it is our insatiable, almost perverse, curiosity that drives the Television Rating points (TRP)’s of the channels?
Yes, it is an issue that concerns our safety and we need some answers, but do our genuine apprehensions about the state of our cities, really require endless hours of media coverage? Is the airing of private MMS clip, of insinuations about the character of the victim, contamination of the potential witnesses justified in the cause of serving our concerns? Are we not equally guilty of turning this case into a trial by media?
4.38 / 16 votes 
