MySpace Suicide Mom Takes Action
Suburban St. Louis mother in Internet bullying case channels grief into activism
By BETSY TAYLOR Associated Press Writer
DARDENNE PRAIRIE, Mo. May 30, 2008 (AP)
The Associated Press
A mother from Missouri faces criminal charges for her role in an Internet hoax.
When Tina Meier's 13-year-old daughter committed suicide after being bullied on the Internet, her grief was so encompassing she felt at times she couldn't breathe. She had trouble being around loved ones who reminded her of her child. Even today, recollections of those first holidays after Megan's death are foggy at best.
But in recent months, the Missouri woman has focused on ways to protect other children from bullying, even leaving her job as a real estate agent to dedicate herself to the Megan Meier Foundation.
"Megan is still my daughter, no matter what, and I am going out there and fighting for her still because she is still my daughter," Meier said.
A group of friends and relatives helped Meier create the foundation, which seeks to educate and encourage positive changes to prevent bullying and cyberbullying. Meier and the volunteers are working to improve laws. They speak at schools and to parent groups. They hope to begin offering scholarships to children who help other children in some way.
Megan hanged herself in her closet on Oct. 16, 2006. Her tragic story became public only last fall following an article in a suburban St. Louis newspaper that prompted widespread interest in her case.
Megan had a history of attention deficit disorder and depression. Her suicide came soon after she received mean messages through the MySpace social networking Web site.
Earlier this month, a federal grand jury indicted 49-year-old Lori Drew, a neighbor of Megan and her family. She is accused of one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to get information used to inflict emotional distress. The charges were filed in California where MySpace is based. MySpace is a subsidiary of Beverly Hills-based Fox Interactive Media Inc., which is owned by News Corp.
Authorities have said Drew, Drew's teenage daughter and another teen took part in an online hoax, creating a fake boy named Josh Evans who befriended and flirted with Megan online. Drew allegedly wanted to know what Megan was saying about her own daughter online. Shortly before Megan's death, the comments from Josh and some other Internet users turned cruel, with "Josh" allegedly saying the world would be better without Megan.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Nitish Katara murder: Vikas Yadav found guilty
Nitish Katara murder: Vikas Yadav found guilty
Wed, May 28 11:12 AM
It's justice for Nitish Katara at last. The trial court hearing the six-year-old murder case held prime accused Vikas Yadav guilty. His cousin Vishal Yadav has also been found guilty in the case.
Neelam Katara, mother of Nitish has sat through 400 hearings for this day fighting not only against the system but amidst tough political pressures. Vikas Yadav is the son of Uttar Pradesh politician DP Yadav's and Vishal Yadav is his nephew. The two were accused of killing Nitish and then setting his body on fire.
"I found the body badly charred and the head had been struck with a hard object. There was a crack on the head and after that the body had been badly burnt. Everything was charred. God forbid that any parent ever has to see the child like that," Neelam Katara said as per news reports.
Past details:
Nitish was at a wedding along with Bharti Yadav - daughter of Uttar Pradesh politician DP Yadav. Bharti's brother Vikas and her cousin Vishal were also at the wedding. They allegedly left the party with Nitish that night in their SUV and killed him because they didn't approve of his romance with their sister.
When Nitish was found dead the Yadav boys were already missing. Their father, then a Rajya Sabha Samajwadi Party MP, spoke in their defence.
However, a few days after Nitish's death, Vikas and Vishal Yadav were found and arrested in Madhya Pradesh. Vikas first confessed that he got into a fight with Nitish at the wedding.
But a week later, came his retraction, "I have never heard that name. I have never seen him in my life, I just went to the wedding and came back."
Bharti was oscillating between family pressure and the truth. She told the press that despite all the Valentine's Day cards, she had never dated Nitish.
Bharti was then sent to London to study. In the next four years, one witness after another turned hostile. But Neelam Katara's was successful in having the case transferred out of Ghaziabad on the grounds that D P Yadav was influencing proceedings.
The last six years have seen Neelam quitting her job, she has lost her husband but her mission was this case.
Wed, May 28 11:12 AM
It's justice for Nitish Katara at last. The trial court hearing the six-year-old murder case held prime accused Vikas Yadav guilty. His cousin Vishal Yadav has also been found guilty in the case.
Neelam Katara, mother of Nitish has sat through 400 hearings for this day fighting not only against the system but amidst tough political pressures. Vikas Yadav is the son of Uttar Pradesh politician DP Yadav's and Vishal Yadav is his nephew. The two were accused of killing Nitish and then setting his body on fire.
"I found the body badly charred and the head had been struck with a hard object. There was a crack on the head and after that the body had been badly burnt. Everything was charred. God forbid that any parent ever has to see the child like that," Neelam Katara said as per news reports.
Past details:
Nitish was at a wedding along with Bharti Yadav - daughter of Uttar Pradesh politician DP Yadav. Bharti's brother Vikas and her cousin Vishal were also at the wedding. They allegedly left the party with Nitish that night in their SUV and killed him because they didn't approve of his romance with their sister.
When Nitish was found dead the Yadav boys were already missing. Their father, then a Rajya Sabha Samajwadi Party MP, spoke in their defence.
However, a few days after Nitish's death, Vikas and Vishal Yadav were found and arrested in Madhya Pradesh. Vikas first confessed that he got into a fight with Nitish at the wedding.
But a week later, came his retraction, "I have never heard that name. I have never seen him in my life, I just went to the wedding and came back."
Bharti was oscillating between family pressure and the truth. She told the press that despite all the Valentine's Day cards, she had never dated Nitish.
Bharti was then sent to London to study. In the next four years, one witness after another turned hostile. But Neelam Katara's was successful in having the case transferred out of Ghaziabad on the grounds that D P Yadav was influencing proceedings.
The last six years have seen Neelam quitting her job, she has lost her husband but her mission was this case.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Neeraj Grover murder: Mathew, Maria want to come clean
Mathew, Maria want to come clean
MUMBAI: Jerome Mathew, prime suspect in the Neeraj Grover murder case, wants to confess before a magistrate. Police sources said he broke down before interrogators and said that he had stabbed Grover in a fit of rage and now wanted to come clean.
Mathew's girlfriend, Maria Susairaj, who was arrested for helping him dispose of the body and for abetment, has independently expressed a desire to confess.
After the Kannada actress made her request, crime branch officials moved her application before a magistrate, who remanded her from police to judicial custody.
Joint commissioner of police (crime) Rakesh Maria said that Susairaj had on Sunday expressed her desire to make a confessional statement before the police but since such a statement does not stand up in a court of law, the police have moved her application to the court. "The court will record her statement in-camera on Wednesday," he said.
Susairaj has already admitted to the cops that she was the only eye-witness to Grover's murder and that she had aided and abetted in the crime.
Rakesh Maria rubbished questions on whether Susairaj would turn approver.
"She is a co-accused who has participated equally in the crime by bundling the chopped pieces of Grover's body into three bags, which she helped her boyfriend Emile Jerome Mathew carry to the car, purchase petrol and a lighter, and helped him burn the body." But legal experts say that if the court allows Susairaj to turn approver, she may be pardoned or given lesser punishment.
The police are still looking for the kitchen knife with which Mathew stabbed Grover in Susairaj's Malad flat on May 7 after he found him naked in her bedroom. They have, however, found the second knife that was used to cut up Grover's body. Rakesh Maria said that since both the accused have been arrested and most loose ends in the case have been tied up, the police want to "submit the chargesheet within 30 days".
Susairaj told investigators that when Mathew and Grover were fighting, she had tried to stop Mathew by grabbing his hand but he flung her off. When he first stabbed Grover, the latter begged him to hear him out but Mathew was in a rage and wouldn't stop until he had knifed him about seven or eight times.
A police officer said, "As of now we know that Susairaj helped him to conceal the crime and destroy the evidence. She did not participate in the killing. But if at a later stage we learn that everything was planned by Mathew and her in advance, we will modify the charges."
Susairaj and Mathew were interrogated at the Bandra crime branch office separately and not allowed to meet.
Sources said that Susairaj's father (a builder from Bangalore) and Mathew's parents have arrived in the city and are seeking legal help.
MUMBAI: Jerome Mathew, prime suspect in the Neeraj Grover murder case, wants to confess before a magistrate. Police sources said he broke down before interrogators and said that he had stabbed Grover in a fit of rage and now wanted to come clean.
Mathew's girlfriend, Maria Susairaj, who was arrested for helping him dispose of the body and for abetment, has independently expressed a desire to confess.
After the Kannada actress made her request, crime branch officials moved her application before a magistrate, who remanded her from police to judicial custody.
Joint commissioner of police (crime) Rakesh Maria said that Susairaj had on Sunday expressed her desire to make a confessional statement before the police but since such a statement does not stand up in a court of law, the police have moved her application to the court. "The court will record her statement in-camera on Wednesday," he said.
Susairaj has already admitted to the cops that she was the only eye-witness to Grover's murder and that she had aided and abetted in the crime.
Rakesh Maria rubbished questions on whether Susairaj would turn approver.
"She is a co-accused who has participated equally in the crime by bundling the chopped pieces of Grover's body into three bags, which she helped her boyfriend Emile Jerome Mathew carry to the car, purchase petrol and a lighter, and helped him burn the body." But legal experts say that if the court allows Susairaj to turn approver, she may be pardoned or given lesser punishment.
The police are still looking for the kitchen knife with which Mathew stabbed Grover in Susairaj's Malad flat on May 7 after he found him naked in her bedroom. They have, however, found the second knife that was used to cut up Grover's body. Rakesh Maria said that since both the accused have been arrested and most loose ends in the case have been tied up, the police want to "submit the chargesheet within 30 days".
Susairaj told investigators that when Mathew and Grover were fighting, she had tried to stop Mathew by grabbing his hand but he flung her off. When he first stabbed Grover, the latter begged him to hear him out but Mathew was in a rage and wouldn't stop until he had knifed him about seven or eight times.
A police officer said, "As of now we know that Susairaj helped him to conceal the crime and destroy the evidence. She did not participate in the killing. But if at a later stage we learn that everything was planned by Mathew and her in advance, we will modify the charges."
Susairaj and Mathew were interrogated at the Bandra crime branch office separately and not allowed to meet.
Sources said that Susairaj's father (a builder from Bangalore) and Mathew's parents have arrived in the city and are seeking legal help.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Aarushi and Hemra killing: Police story has holes
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Police story in Noida murder case has holes
Noida: While the Noida police claimed to have cracked the double-murder case on Friday, senior police officers failed to explain some very basic details of the investigation and what led them to conclude that Dr Rajesh Talwar was the killer.
What was the motive?
Senior police officers say a person killing his servant as he had an affair with his daughter is possible but why would he go on to kill his daughter? The biggest mystery of the case — the motive behind the killings — remains a puzzle. Since the last one week, police has attributed various motives to the murder but on Friday when they announced they had arrested the killer, they were at a loss to explain as to what had angered Talwar so much that he decided to kill Aarushi and Hemraj and that too in his own house.
Police say Hemraj and Aarushi were aware of his extra-marital affair and his daughter objected to it often and they had heated discussions on this. Police said Hemraj had discussed this with some of his friends and when Talwar came to know about it, he had scolded and even beaten Hemraj. But this wasn’t the reason why he murdered the two, the police said.
The two — Hemraj and Aarushi — had become close and developed physical relations and when Talwar came to know about it he had threatened his servant. However, he had known for sometime about their relationship but what made him react the way as the police say he did last Friday is not known. Was something else the trigger?
Why his own house?
Senior police officers say a person killing his servant as he had an affair with his daughter is possible but why would he go on to kill his daughter? Police haven’t been able to exactly explain why Talwar killed Aarushi. Even if he had decided to kill them, couldn’t he have taken Hemraj out with him on some pretext and kill him?
Hemraj, the police said, had often told his friends that he feared for his life. Why had Hemraj stayed back when Talwar had come to know of his relationship with his daughter some months back? “He could have easily left the place the day Talwar had threatened him the first day,” an officer said.
It is perplexing why Talwars continued with Hemraj as their domestic help after coming to know of his physical relations with their daughter.
What was Nupur doing?
Police have failed to say what Aarushi mother, Dr Nupur Talwar, was doing on the night of the murder. Police said around 1 a.m., when the murder, even the slightest of noise can be heard. “As there is no traffic and the colony is very peaceful, you can’t miss shouts of this nature. Even if someone walks on the terrace, you can hear the noise. If you pull open the cover of the cooler it makes enough noise for the person in the bedroom to hear,” said IG (Meerut) Gurdarshan Singh.
The police went on to explain that anything that would have happened in Aarushi’s room would have been easily heard in Nupur’s room.
“The doors of the two rooms are hardly four feet away and if you take the position of the beds they are hardly six feet away. It cannot be possible that the person in the other bedroom does not come to know what’s happening in the other,” Singh said.
Who was killed first?
Another mystery is the timings of the two murders. Singh initially said Talwar killed Hemraj to eliminate all witnesses to Aarushi’s murder. He then went on to say that Talwar murdered Hemraj first and then killed Aarushi. So was the possible witness to the murder that hadn’t been committed till then eliminated first so that there doesn’t remain a witness to the crime? The police were as confused as anyone else on this.
Also the police had earlier said the murders were committed within minutes of each other. Later they said there was a difference of 3-4 hours between the two murders.
Where is the weapon of crime?
The weapons used to commit the crimes, a hammer and scalpel, haven’t been recovered till now. The failure to recover the weapon of offence can become the deciding factor when the case goes to trial. Delhi Police’s failure to recover the pistol used to kill Jessica Lall was one of the strong points used by the defence counsels in their favour in court.
Moreover, the police haven’t recovered the clothes that Talwar was wearing at the time when he allegedly committed the murders. Police haven’t recovered the mobile phones of Aarushi and Hemraj till now. The lax attitude of the Noida Police has already ensured that they lost crucial evidence that could have been lifted from the crime spot.
Who helped Talwar?
Police have maintained from the beginning that 3-4 persons were involved in the crime. They had also recovered atleast three glasses used to consume liquor from Hemraj’s room. “We have leads that point to the presence of at least 3-4 assailants in the house on the night of the murder,” A Satish Ganesh, Senior Superintendent of Police, Noida had said.
Who found Hemraj’s body?
While it is well known that retired DSP, K.K. Gautam, discovered the body, police on Friday said it was Rajesh Talwar who had called from Hardwar to inform that they body was lying on the terrace. This is confusing as police did not say whom did Talwar call to inform and if he had called why wasn’t the case cracked earlier?
Police said when Talwar reached home last Friday he saw his daughter and Hemraj in a “objectionable position”. However, there are three doors to cross before one enters the house and Talwar must have rung the doorbell. How come, Hemraj still remain in Aarushi’s room till Talwar arrived.
© Copyright 2008 HT Media Ltd. All rights reserved.
Police story in Noida murder case has holes
Noida: While the Noida police claimed to have cracked the double-murder case on Friday, senior police officers failed to explain some very basic details of the investigation and what led them to conclude that Dr Rajesh Talwar was the killer.
What was the motive?
Senior police officers say a person killing his servant as he had an affair with his daughter is possible but why would he go on to kill his daughter? The biggest mystery of the case — the motive behind the killings — remains a puzzle. Since the last one week, police has attributed various motives to the murder but on Friday when they announced they had arrested the killer, they were at a loss to explain as to what had angered Talwar so much that he decided to kill Aarushi and Hemraj and that too in his own house.
Police say Hemraj and Aarushi were aware of his extra-marital affair and his daughter objected to it often and they had heated discussions on this. Police said Hemraj had discussed this with some of his friends and when Talwar came to know about it, he had scolded and even beaten Hemraj. But this wasn’t the reason why he murdered the two, the police said.
The two — Hemraj and Aarushi — had become close and developed physical relations and when Talwar came to know about it he had threatened his servant. However, he had known for sometime about their relationship but what made him react the way as the police say he did last Friday is not known. Was something else the trigger?
Why his own house?
Senior police officers say a person killing his servant as he had an affair with his daughter is possible but why would he go on to kill his daughter? Police haven’t been able to exactly explain why Talwar killed Aarushi. Even if he had decided to kill them, couldn’t he have taken Hemraj out with him on some pretext and kill him?
Hemraj, the police said, had often told his friends that he feared for his life. Why had Hemraj stayed back when Talwar had come to know of his relationship with his daughter some months back? “He could have easily left the place the day Talwar had threatened him the first day,” an officer said.
It is perplexing why Talwars continued with Hemraj as their domestic help after coming to know of his physical relations with their daughter.
What was Nupur doing?
Police have failed to say what Aarushi mother, Dr Nupur Talwar, was doing on the night of the murder. Police said around 1 a.m., when the murder, even the slightest of noise can be heard. “As there is no traffic and the colony is very peaceful, you can’t miss shouts of this nature. Even if someone walks on the terrace, you can hear the noise. If you pull open the cover of the cooler it makes enough noise for the person in the bedroom to hear,” said IG (Meerut) Gurdarshan Singh.
The police went on to explain that anything that would have happened in Aarushi’s room would have been easily heard in Nupur’s room.
“The doors of the two rooms are hardly four feet away and if you take the position of the beds they are hardly six feet away. It cannot be possible that the person in the other bedroom does not come to know what’s happening in the other,” Singh said.
Who was killed first?
Another mystery is the timings of the two murders. Singh initially said Talwar killed Hemraj to eliminate all witnesses to Aarushi’s murder. He then went on to say that Talwar murdered Hemraj first and then killed Aarushi. So was the possible witness to the murder that hadn’t been committed till then eliminated first so that there doesn’t remain a witness to the crime? The police were as confused as anyone else on this.
Also the police had earlier said the murders were committed within minutes of each other. Later they said there was a difference of 3-4 hours between the two murders.
Where is the weapon of crime?
The weapons used to commit the crimes, a hammer and scalpel, haven’t been recovered till now. The failure to recover the weapon of offence can become the deciding factor when the case goes to trial. Delhi Police’s failure to recover the pistol used to kill Jessica Lall was one of the strong points used by the defence counsels in their favour in court.
Moreover, the police haven’t recovered the clothes that Talwar was wearing at the time when he allegedly committed the murders. Police haven’t recovered the mobile phones of Aarushi and Hemraj till now. The lax attitude of the Noida Police has already ensured that they lost crucial evidence that could have been lifted from the crime spot.
Who helped Talwar?
Police have maintained from the beginning that 3-4 persons were involved in the crime. They had also recovered atleast three glasses used to consume liquor from Hemraj’s room. “We have leads that point to the presence of at least 3-4 assailants in the house on the night of the murder,” A Satish Ganesh, Senior Superintendent of Police, Noida had said.
Who found Hemraj’s body?
While it is well known that retired DSP, K.K. Gautam, discovered the body, police on Friday said it was Rajesh Talwar who had called from Hardwar to inform that they body was lying on the terrace. This is confusing as police did not say whom did Talwar call to inform and if he had called why wasn’t the case cracked earlier?
Police said when Talwar reached home last Friday he saw his daughter and Hemraj in a “objectionable position”. However, there are three doors to cross before one enters the house and Talwar must have rung the doorbell. How come, Hemraj still remain in Aarushi’s room till Talwar arrived.
© Copyright 2008 HT Media Ltd. All rights reserved.
Arushi Killing: Nupur defends her husband, Rajesh Talwar
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Nupur defends husband, says he can't be killer
Noida: Nupur Talwar, the wife of dentist Rajesh Talwar, arrested yesterday for allegedly killing his daughter and domestic help, today claimed that he was totally innocent and she would fight his battle for justice.
She also denied there were any illicit relations between her husband and Anita Durrani, a dental surgeon, which the police said was one of the reasons for the twin murder.
"Even after all this, I can say it has nothing to do with this. There is no such thing," she told NDTV.
Coming out in strong defence of her husband, Nupur said, "with all conviction I can say it (Rajesh killing Arushi) can't be the way it is suggested (by the police). He was a doting father. It is doubly untrue.”
"In fact I used to feel that I had done something good in the past to be part of such a wonderful family. I have faith in the legal system and I have faith in God," she said.
Nupur, who is also a dentist, said she cannot believe that her husband could be behind the murders. "It is not possible, just not possible. The killer is out there somewhere. We will have to fight it out in the court. The truth is there. The truth has to come out."
Breaking her silence ever since the murder came to light Friday last week, Nupur said they were a very close knit family and on the night of the murder, the family had food and watched television together like any other family before they went to sleep.
"I have been in the house. Is such a thing possible? Do you think...Can any mother sleep throughout...I think it is beyond anybody's imagination. Utter nonsense, baseless nonsense. They (police) can say whatever they want. I know it is not true. God knows it is not true," she said.
Asked as a mother can she be part of a cover-up to save the husband from law, she said "would any mother do that? Then I don't think she is a mother. She is not a human being. She is an animal. Even a father would not do it."
To a question about the police charge of an extra-marital relationship between Rajesh and Anita Durrani, she said, the Durranis were like an extended family.
"I have known her since Arushi was born. Her daughter may be six months older than Arushi. Her daughter and my daughter were like sisters.”
"Whenever we have had medical problems, her husband (Praful) would come and give medicines for Arushi. Even when Rajesh gets asthmatic attacks, the first to be called would be Praful. In fact, we never had a family doctor. Praful was our doctor," she said.
On domestic servant Hemraj, who the police claimed had developed a relationship with Arushi, Nupur said he was a person whom she had trusted. "He was 45 years, turning grey, an elderly person, who had sons and a grandchild. I never had any problems with him. Even on the day of murder, he had told me how happy he was that Arushi had eaten for the first time 'palak paneer' (spinach and cheese).
"He had cared for her," she said and denied suggestions of an intimate relationship between Hemraj and Arushi.
"It is not at all true. We knew everything about Arushi, she also went through what teenagers normally go through," she said.
Nupur said Rajesh never uttered a word to Arushi and whatever he wanted to say, he always conveyed it through her.
"It (Arushi's murder by him) is not possible. I know Rajesh. He had a lot of patience. He was one of the most gentle souls. It is unimaginable. I hope the person (murderer) would be caught," she said.
Asked about who could be the killer, she said she had no idea. "First when the murder came to light, first I thought that it was the servant. But when his body was recovered, then I thought probably it was some enmity the servant had with someone."
Recalling the night before Arushi was murdered, Nupur said Rajesh had bought a camera for the girl's 14th birthday (which incidentally is today) and both of them took it to her room. She wanted to give it to Arushi on the same day, but Rajesh wanted to wait till birthday.
Nupur said Arushi kept calling her friends to know who all are coming for her birthday party.
"I will not just sit back and see. I will fight for justice and for my family's name," she said.
© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved.
Nupur defends husband, says he can't be killer
Noida: Nupur Talwar, the wife of dentist Rajesh Talwar, arrested yesterday for allegedly killing his daughter and domestic help, today claimed that he was totally innocent and she would fight his battle for justice.
She also denied there were any illicit relations between her husband and Anita Durrani, a dental surgeon, which the police said was one of the reasons for the twin murder.
"Even after all this, I can say it has nothing to do with this. There is no such thing," she told NDTV.
Coming out in strong defence of her husband, Nupur said, "with all conviction I can say it (Rajesh killing Arushi) can't be the way it is suggested (by the police). He was a doting father. It is doubly untrue.”
"In fact I used to feel that I had done something good in the past to be part of such a wonderful family. I have faith in the legal system and I have faith in God," she said.
Nupur, who is also a dentist, said she cannot believe that her husband could be behind the murders. "It is not possible, just not possible. The killer is out there somewhere. We will have to fight it out in the court. The truth is there. The truth has to come out."
Breaking her silence ever since the murder came to light Friday last week, Nupur said they were a very close knit family and on the night of the murder, the family had food and watched television together like any other family before they went to sleep.
"I have been in the house. Is such a thing possible? Do you think...Can any mother sleep throughout...I think it is beyond anybody's imagination. Utter nonsense, baseless nonsense. They (police) can say whatever they want. I know it is not true. God knows it is not true," she said.
Asked as a mother can she be part of a cover-up to save the husband from law, she said "would any mother do that? Then I don't think she is a mother. She is not a human being. She is an animal. Even a father would not do it."
To a question about the police charge of an extra-marital relationship between Rajesh and Anita Durrani, she said, the Durranis were like an extended family.
"I have known her since Arushi was born. Her daughter may be six months older than Arushi. Her daughter and my daughter were like sisters.”
"Whenever we have had medical problems, her husband (Praful) would come and give medicines for Arushi. Even when Rajesh gets asthmatic attacks, the first to be called would be Praful. In fact, we never had a family doctor. Praful was our doctor," she said.
On domestic servant Hemraj, who the police claimed had developed a relationship with Arushi, Nupur said he was a person whom she had trusted. "He was 45 years, turning grey, an elderly person, who had sons and a grandchild. I never had any problems with him. Even on the day of murder, he had told me how happy he was that Arushi had eaten for the first time 'palak paneer' (spinach and cheese).
"He had cared for her," she said and denied suggestions of an intimate relationship between Hemraj and Arushi.
"It is not at all true. We knew everything about Arushi, she also went through what teenagers normally go through," she said.
Nupur said Rajesh never uttered a word to Arushi and whatever he wanted to say, he always conveyed it through her.
"It (Arushi's murder by him) is not possible. I know Rajesh. He had a lot of patience. He was one of the most gentle souls. It is unimaginable. I hope the person (murderer) would be caught," she said.
Asked about who could be the killer, she said she had no idea. "First when the murder came to light, first I thought that it was the servant. But when his body was recovered, then I thought probably it was some enmity the servant had with someone."
Recalling the night before Arushi was murdered, Nupur said Rajesh had bought a camera for the girl's 14th birthday (which incidentally is today) and both of them took it to her room. She wanted to give it to Arushi on the same day, but Rajesh wanted to wait till birthday.
Nupur said Arushi kept calling her friends to know who all are coming for her birthday party.
"I will not just sit back and see. I will fight for justice and for my family's name," she said.
© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved.
10 killed in police firing on Gujjars
Saturday, May 24, 2008
10 killed in police firing on Gujjars
Daussa/Bayana: At least 10 people were killed today and scores wounded when police opened fire on a mob that set ablaze a police station in the Daussa district of Rajasthan as the Gujjars agitation for ST tag spread to new areas of the state.
Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bhainsala said he was ready to talk to the government but said the agitation would continue till their demand was met.
Police opened fire when a mob of Gujjars, protesting the police firing on their community members in Bayana in Bharatpur district yesterday and pressing for ST status, stormed the police station at Sikendra in Daussa district, after overpowering the policemen and set it on fire, SHO Bane Singh said.
With this, the death count in two days of firing and clashes between Gujjars and police mounted to 26 of whom 16 lost their lives yesterday.
"The situation is extremely tense and additional police force has been requisitioned to handle the situation," Singh said.
Police had opened fire on Gujjar agitators at Philpura village of Bayana yesterday when they pelted stones on them after tear gas shells failed to disperse the protestors who damaged the railway tracks.
Eight hundred army men were deployed today in violence-hit Dhumiria and Karwari villages of Bayana tehsil, joining CRPF and Rapid Action Force to restore law and order.
© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved.
10 killed in police firing on Gujjars
Daussa/Bayana: At least 10 people were killed today and scores wounded when police opened fire on a mob that set ablaze a police station in the Daussa district of Rajasthan as the Gujjars agitation for ST tag spread to new areas of the state.
Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bhainsala said he was ready to talk to the government but said the agitation would continue till their demand was met.
Police opened fire when a mob of Gujjars, protesting the police firing on their community members in Bayana in Bharatpur district yesterday and pressing for ST status, stormed the police station at Sikendra in Daussa district, after overpowering the policemen and set it on fire, SHO Bane Singh said.
With this, the death count in two days of firing and clashes between Gujjars and police mounted to 26 of whom 16 lost their lives yesterday.
"The situation is extremely tense and additional police force has been requisitioned to handle the situation," Singh said.
Police had opened fire on Gujjar agitators at Philpura village of Bayana yesterday when they pelted stones on them after tear gas shells failed to disperse the protestors who damaged the railway tracks.
Eight hundred army men were deployed today in violence-hit Dhumiria and Karwari villages of Bayana tehsil, joining CRPF and Rapid Action Force to restore law and order.
© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Dad killed Aarushi: Cops
Dad killed Aarushi: Cops
24 May 2008, 0231 hrs IST,Lalit Kumar,TNN
NOIDA: What was widely suspected but was virtually unspeakable has apparently come true. Dr Rajesh Talwar, one of the city's most successful dentists, killed his own daughter, Aarushi, and manservant Hemraj in cold blood to write an utterly depressing chapter in parent-child relationships, according to police.
To give a murkier twist to this dark tale, police said, there were two motives to the murders: Dr Talwar's extramarital affair with his professional partner, Dr Anita Durani, which was known and deeply resented by Aarushi, and the 14-year-old girl's "proximity" and "closeness" to the 47-year-old servant.
While police didn't say that Dr Talwar had confessed to the killings, the details they gave of the sequence of events on the fateful night of May 15-16 indicate that the doctor has sung. And a part of the song was Aarushi's "closeness" to Hemraj, offered perhaps as a mitigating circumstance for his murderous rage.
The sequence of events, however, doesn't necessarily bear out this rage. Dr Talwar had gone out that evening at 9.30pm and returned home two hours later. On his return, he surfed the net, and then went looking for Hemraj to his room.
He didn't find him there and went to Aarushi's room to find Hemraj with the girl in — as IG, Meerut Zone, Gurdarshan Singh, put it — an "objectionable but not compromising" position. It's not that blood rushed to the doctor's head and he killed in blind rage. Instead, he persuaded Hemraj to come with him to the terrace.
Once there, Dr Talwar struck Hemraj on his head with a hammer. As he fell bleeding, he took out a surgical knife and slit his throat. The doctor came down, fixed himself a whisky, had it and then entered Aarushi's room. He hit the girl with the hammer and then slit her throat with a surgical knife. It's interesting that when Dr Talwar discovered Hemraj with Aarushi, he was already armed with a hammer and a knife.
Why did he do it? Although there are two reasons on offer — him being consumed by passion for a woman and enraged by his daughter's opposition, as well as a desire to save the family's "honour" by killing his "loose" daughter — only further investigations will bring out the truth.
On his part, Dr Talwar vehemently denied his role in the murder. When he was being taken away, the harried doctor told reporters that he was being "framed". He said he didn't know why he was being framed. "It is being done by Dinesh Varma," he added. Now, who is this? Dr Talwar's brother is also a Dinesh, but he is Dinesh Talwar, not Varma. Also, the murder weapon has not yet been found.
After days of intense speculation over the culprit — ranging from domestic helps to the girl's friends — the cops on Friday gave out their definitive story. IG Gurdarshan Singh in Noida and additional DGP (law and order, crime and STF), Brij Lal, in Lucknow unravelled the plot at televised press conferences.
24 May 2008, 0231 hrs IST,Lalit Kumar,TNN
NOIDA: What was widely suspected but was virtually unspeakable has apparently come true. Dr Rajesh Talwar, one of the city's most successful dentists, killed his own daughter, Aarushi, and manservant Hemraj in cold blood to write an utterly depressing chapter in parent-child relationships, according to police.
To give a murkier twist to this dark tale, police said, there were two motives to the murders: Dr Talwar's extramarital affair with his professional partner, Dr Anita Durani, which was known and deeply resented by Aarushi, and the 14-year-old girl's "proximity" and "closeness" to the 47-year-old servant.
While police didn't say that Dr Talwar had confessed to the killings, the details they gave of the sequence of events on the fateful night of May 15-16 indicate that the doctor has sung. And a part of the song was Aarushi's "closeness" to Hemraj, offered perhaps as a mitigating circumstance for his murderous rage.
The sequence of events, however, doesn't necessarily bear out this rage. Dr Talwar had gone out that evening at 9.30pm and returned home two hours later. On his return, he surfed the net, and then went looking for Hemraj to his room.
He didn't find him there and went to Aarushi's room to find Hemraj with the girl in — as IG, Meerut Zone, Gurdarshan Singh, put it — an "objectionable but not compromising" position. It's not that blood rushed to the doctor's head and he killed in blind rage. Instead, he persuaded Hemraj to come with him to the terrace.
Once there, Dr Talwar struck Hemraj on his head with a hammer. As he fell bleeding, he took out a surgical knife and slit his throat. The doctor came down, fixed himself a whisky, had it and then entered Aarushi's room. He hit the girl with the hammer and then slit her throat with a surgical knife. It's interesting that when Dr Talwar discovered Hemraj with Aarushi, he was already armed with a hammer and a knife.
Why did he do it? Although there are two reasons on offer — him being consumed by passion for a woman and enraged by his daughter's opposition, as well as a desire to save the family's "honour" by killing his "loose" daughter — only further investigations will bring out the truth.
On his part, Dr Talwar vehemently denied his role in the murder. When he was being taken away, the harried doctor told reporters that he was being "framed". He said he didn't know why he was being framed. "It is being done by Dinesh Varma," he added. Now, who is this? Dr Talwar's brother is also a Dinesh, but he is Dinesh Talwar, not Varma. Also, the murder weapon has not yet been found.
After days of intense speculation over the culprit — ranging from domestic helps to the girl's friends — the cops on Friday gave out their definitive story. IG Gurdarshan Singh in Noida and additional DGP (law and order, crime and STF), Brij Lal, in Lucknow unravelled the plot at televised press conferences.
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