Monday, July 7, 2008

Aarushi case makes every Indian curious

The Noida double murder case, in which 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar and her domestic help Hemraj died last month, has caught the nation's attention.

Every evening for the last month Ajay Chandra has been hooked on to news channels for updates on the Noida double murder case, which killed 14-year-old Aarushi and domestic help, Hemraj.

What Ajay misses on TV, he tries to get from the newspapers, even when his friends visit there's been only one topic of conversation for sometime now.

''I've been really curious ever since this case started so I've started watching news more often than I used to,'' said Ajay.

Miles away from Delhi in Madurai down south, Georgina, a college student is always looking for latest updates on the case.

She said, ''Though this happened in Delhi. I am really interested in the outcome. Who is the killer? What happened?''

Everyone seems anxious to know what is happening and are hope the culprit is caught soon.

First there was the character assassination of the girl that gained sympathy. Then all the theories about the father that are not even seen in serials grabbed everyone's interest.

In an interesting statistic on May 23, when Aarush's father, Dr Rajesh Talwar was arrested, ratings on news channels shot up to more than the IPL match between Mohali and Hyderabad.

Not surprisingly, even a month after the murders the smallest update in the investigation continues to make headlines and the audience is still hooked on.

''The nature of the case. It has something for everyone, caters to every strata of society,'' said Sevanti Ninan, media critic.

Many say it could also be the way the case has been covered in the national media, almost exaggerating every twist and turn.

''This is the way it is done in the west which has a longer history of television and TV news. Crime coverage is always tabloidish to get the eyeballs,'' said Sevanti.

Even Mumbai's entertainment industry reacted predictably by announcing a new serial and a film on Aarushi's murder.

But there are some who say they have had enough now on the case. But these voices are drowned in the overwhelming media coverage.

But for many, the desire to solve the mystery is so intense that the CBI, which is handling the case gets hundreds of calls everyday.

An 80-year old man called the CBI soon after they took over and told them how to go about investigating the case and who to question.

A Muscat resident called the CBI with his own theory - that Hemraj sedated the Talwar family and then himself got killed after a fight with his associates

After a month, the investigators may not have all the answers yet but solving the ''whodunnit'' seems to have become a national obsession.

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