Talwars ruined us

On the day the court declared the parents as accused in the Aarushi murder case, Hemraj's family cries for justice

Justice denied: Hemraj's body was found on the terrace of Aarushi's house. File pic

Yam Prasad Banjade alias Hemraj, 55, a short, stocky house help, became national news on May 16, 2008, when a fourteen-year-old Noida girl was found murdered at her upscale home. Hemraj was declared as the prime accused in the murder of Aarushi Talwar till his body was recovered from the roof of Talwar residence on May 17, 2008.

Almost three years later, on Wednesday, as the Special CBI court in Ghaziabad announced the closure report of the CBI as a chargsheet in the Aarushi murder case, the family members of Hemraj are still waiting for justice. Hemraj's family lives in Arghakhanchi village in Nepal.

"When my husband was declared a criminal everybody was interested to know his whereabouts. When his body was found lying on the roof, no body bothered to find out who killed him so mercilessly. Everybody in India is interested in getting justice for Aarushi, what about justice for my husband?" Kumbh Kela Banjade, Hemraj's wife, said. 

"Though the court has directed the CBI to investigate the case with Talwars as the prime accused, we feel we have been denied justice. The couple (Talwars) ruined our life, my husband was the only bread winner for our family and we have been suffering since his murder," Kumbh Kela told MiD DAY over the phone from her native village.

"My son Pranjal is now 14 years old and we are not able to send him to school. He was suffering from multiple diseases when his father was killed. We admitted him to a hospital in Varanasi in India and my brother-in-law paid all medical bills.


Future tense: Hemraj's wife and son talking to the media.

My mother-in-law Krishna Kala Banjade is suffering from acute tuberculosis and a huge chunk of our income goes in paying the medical bills. The Talwars haven't given us any compensation so far. Yam Prasad was a faithful servant to them. They killed him to hide the truth and now they are pretending as if they know nothing," she added.

Though the family is under huge debt, India is a bad word for them. "We are devastated by the death of my husband. I will not send Pranjal to India for any job ever," Hemraj's wife said.

Costliest murder mystery:
With almost five Narco analysis tests and a dozen lie detector tests of Krishna, Vijay Mandal, Raj Kumar, Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar, the Aarushi- Hemraj murder case has become India's most expensive murder investigation so far. It is also one of the biggest murder mysteries being investigated by two agencies and more than four investigative officers.