'Talwars living in a bubble of sorrow'

“Unfolding of a horror story” is how Masooma Ranalvi, a close friend of the Talwars, describes the last four years since teenager Aarushi Talwar and Nepali domestic help Hemraj were found murdered. It is the day after the crushing Supreme Court verdict that rejected Nupur Talwar’s plea to dismiss the murder trial and order a fresh investigation into the case.

Nupur and her husband Rajesh Talwar have been charged by a special CBI court of the double murder and of destroying evidence. The trial began on 8 June.

For Masooma, whose daughter Fiza was Aarushi’s friend at school, the irreconcilability between Talwars she knows and the circumstances they find themselves in makes her wonder how things could have gone so horribly wrong for a couple she describes as “gentle, soft-spoken and always ready to help.”

Looking back, Masooma says, there are many things she wishes they had done differently. And looking forward, she has set herself the challenge of righting one hugely costly mistake the Talwars made - ignoring the media. The result, to quote what one of their senior counsels told the Supreme Court, “Their lives have been destroyed by the media.”

The course correction seems to have already begun. For the first time, Talwars released a press statement on Thursday. It was their reaction to the Supreme Court verdict.

“People have been fed one side of the story. The real picture is something different. The focus now is on getting the support of the people through social media, through one-to-one contact. We want to tell our side of the story and make people understand,” says Masooma.

Rubbishing the recent spate of stories in the media on Nupur and her life in jail, Masooma couldn’t help laughing and said, “She is not writing a book. She is not studying law and she is not considering adopting a girl child. But it is a headline every day.”

Speaking about her recent meeting with Nupur in Dasna jail, she says: “Looking at them post this tragedy, I find that circumstances have pushed them to become strong. Between the two, Nupur is the strong one. She has a stoicism about her. And she has that spirit she is going to fight it out.”

It was the year that Aarushi was murdered that Masooma had begun to grow closer to the Talwars.

“It was only over the last one year of the incident that I got more involved with them. Fiza and Aarushi were always friends. And it was when they were in Class VIII that I consciously started meeting some of the parents of her friends,” Masooma said.

She found Nupur, she says, to be “simple, not a flashy person” and always ready to pitch in and help. “She is in a shell now and it is difficult to penetrate that. There is immense grief around both of them. It is as if they are living in a bubble of sorrow. They don’t talk about it or show it – there are no histrionics or tears. But it is there.”

Masooma says it their pursuit to prove their innocence that is keeping them going. “They are fighting. They have the resolve to prove their innocence. It has become a mission in their life.”

Through all the bizarre twists and turns this case has taken, it is the Noida Police, says Masooma, that she feels most betrayed by.

“They are the biggest culprits. Had their done their job, we wouldn’t have seen this horrific twist to the story,” she said.

Asked what had led her to get involved and speak out publicly in defence of the Talwars, she says: “What is happening to the Talwars is a reflection of the system we live in. But somewhere down the line, justice has to be done. We cannot allow this to happen. Otherwise, it will be a sad day for all of us.”