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Arushi Talwar case: Idiot Box Democracy

(Hardnews June 2008) Nupur Talwar, a practising dentist, showed up in the television studio of a channel in the capital. At the face of it there was nothing unusual, except for the fact that her 14-year-old daughter had allegedly been killed by her husband a week ago. Talwar displayed equanimity bordering on stoicism as she fielded all questions from an extremely inquisitive anchor. For many television viewers in the capital, who had been following the murder very closely, Talwar appeared as just another expert the channels usually invite to analyse such cases. She certainly did not look like a mother who had lost her daughter and had her husband behind bars. Despite attempts by the TV anchor to provoke her into breaking down in front of the cameras, Talwar did not oblige. She insisted that she was not interrogated by the police even nine days after the gruesome murder. Exhibiting righteous indignation over suggestions that a father could murder his own daughter, she succeeded in showing that hers was a normal family and they were victims of a larger conspiracy. Interestingly, she did not criticise the police so much as hoping god will help her get justice.

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