Arushi-Hemraj murder: India gives its verdict

QUESTION EVERYTHING: CNN-IBN's Sagarika Ghose moderates the discussion on the findings of The Arushi Poll.

                

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Keywords: The Arushi Poll, Hemraj

Over the last month, the murder of a 14-year-old schoolgirl Arushi Talwar and her domestic help Hemraj has captured public imagination. The case goes to the heart of India’s middle class society and raises several troubling questions.

What is the nature of contemporary media -- Has it ceased to be absolutely responsible? What is the nature of the police force -- Is it unable to investigate modern crime? What about the relationship between employees and employers -- Has that broken down with the household? And what about parents and children -- Do they inhabit completely different universes now?

An Outlook-CNN-IBN Exclusive Opinion Poll tried to gauge the public mood on the murder case. Over a thousand respondents from six cities took part in the survey.

CNN-IBN conducted a special show to reveal and discuss the findings of the poll. The panel comprised of former IPS officer Kiran Bedi; Editor-in-Chief, Outlook magazine, Vinod Mehta; a close friend of the Talwars, Masooma Renalvi; clinical psychologist Dr Nishreen Saif Poonawalla; Editor, Marie Claire magazine, Shefalee Vasudev, RJ, Radio Mirchi, Saurabh; and Editor-in-Chief, IBN7, Ashutosh.

Media Sensationalism: Has the media sensationalised the Arushi murder case?

Parents

Yes: 77 per cent

No: 23 per cent

Teenagers

Yes: 67 per cent

No: 33 per cent

Masooma Renalvi, who’s been very critical of the media, initiated the discussion by pointing out even though media played an important role in the Arushi Talwar murder case, it went way beyond reporting the facts. She accused the media of reporting wrong facts and sensationalizing the case.

“In the first week,” she said, “media showed the photographs of Talwars’ brother and his wife as Arushi’s parents. As for sensationalizing the case, a few days ago, a tabloid performed a lie-detector test on Dr Nupur Talwar and published the transcript. The next day, a TV channel dramatized the test. Dr Nupur, however, told us that the nothing mentioned in the transcript was true.”

But there have been many instances — such as the O J Simpson case in the US and the Madeleine McCann case in the UK — where the media played a vital role.

Vinod Mehta, however, took a slightly different stand. He said there have been cases where the media has gone overboard. “I accept the fact that media is in the business of selling but sometimes we have to ask ourselves is there a laxman rekha here?” he asked calling for self-imposed restrictions.

Shouldn’t the Talwar family, then, have been more forthcoming with the media? Shouldn’t they have given the right version to the media?

Renalvi defended that initially the Talwar family didn’t talk to the media because they were told by the police not to do so, lest they hamper investigations. “They are a normal middle class family who are not used to criminal investigation or the media. The media was writing about on the basis of the information leaked by the police while the family was still obeying the orders of the police. They started speaking out only after realizing that the whole thing had turned against them,” she said.

When Nupur Talwar gave interviews to media channels, there was a counter-productive reaction to that. There was a feeling that she wasn’t grieving enough. In that sense, was it wise for her to come on TV?

“It was a period of mourning and grief for the Talwars,” Shefalee Vasudev replied. “The family responded in a very haphazard, bizarre way — they were, as Masooma said, misled by certain advice and they were not able to handle the crazy media attention. It’s hardly a case of accusing Dr Nupur Talwar. She lost her only child.”

Role of the Media: Will the role of the media directly or indirectly interfere with investigation and justice?

Parents

Yes: 69 per cent

No: 31 per cent

Teenagers

Yes: 71 per cent

No: 29 per cent

Ashutosh pointed out that it was unfair to target TV media alone as there were many lead newspapers too which carried stories related to the Arushi Talwar as the lead almost every other day for a month.

He also underscored the need to not look at the Talwar family as the victims. “Let’s not try to gain sympathy for the Talwars. According to the Noida police, they are the prime suspects in the case and till this day even the court has not granted them bail,” he said.

Renalvi clarified that she wasn’t trying to garner sympathy for the family. “My point was that media reports had factual errors and that the case was sensationalized. Media cannot assassinate the character of a murdered girl till the investigation is going on,” she said.

One of the police officers, who was transferred, said that police and media are in partnership in crime investigation. But whatever the media does, at the end of the day, does it focus unnecessary attention on a case?

Kiran Bedi replied that Arushi’s murder was a very simple forensic case. "Had there been a police officer who knew how to handle media and the crime scene well, he could have kept the media completely out. All he needed was a yellow tape around the crime scene, saying do not cross the line.”