‘Injuries not possible with golf club, scalpel’

Testifying in the Aarushi-Hemraj double-murder case , Rajinder Koul -- a friend of Rajesh Talwar -- told the special CBI court in Ghaziabad that the Talwars' were in a state of shock when their daughter's murder was discovered on May 16, 2008. Peeyush Khandelwal reports.

Contradicting the prosecution’s claim, a defence witness in the Aarushi-Hemraj double-murder case on Tuesday told a Ghaziabad court that the injuries on the victims could not have been inflicted with golf sticks or a surgical scalpel.

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Senior forensic expert Dr RK Sharma gave his opinion after examination of post-mortem reports of both victims, testimonies of two doctors who conducted the post-mortems and photographs taken from the scene of crime.

Sharma told the court that injuries inflicted by golf sticks would leave a “depressed fracture” and the impact would press the bone. “In both post-mortem reports, there is no mention of depressed-fracture. Hemraj’s post-mortem report indicates a 8x2cm injury mark which is not possible with a golf stick,” Sharma said.

“Aarushi Talwar’s post-mortem report indicates only fracture but there is no mention of depressed fracture...So Aarushi’s injury is not possible with a golf stick,” he said. On the slit throats of both victims, Sharma said it could not have been a scalpel because the injuries “were deep and extensive...(it) is not possible through use of blade number 15 of a scalpel”.

Sharma said blade number 10 is generally used for murders. “Generally, injuries inflicted by a scalpel have a slashed pattern...throat injuries of both victims don’t show a slash pattern but both have deep cuts, which are possible by a heavy, sharp-edged and round-type murder weapon,” Sharma said.

Earlier, prosecution witness Sunil Dohre, who conducted Aarushi’s post-mortem, had stated that the injuries on her body could have been caused by a golf stick and a small surgical weapon.

Likewise, Naresh Raj, who conducted Hemraj’s post-mortem, had stated that his neck injury could be the result of a hard sharp-edged item, possibly a surgical scalpel. He had stated the head injuries could be because of some hard item like a golf stick.

Fourteen-year old Aarushi was killed at her Noida residence on the intervening night of May 15-16, 2008. The body of their domestic help Hemraj was found on the terrace a day later. The CBI wanted to close the case but the trial court summoned her parents Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar as accused in the case.