Unseemly all round

The human tragedy of the Noida murders of 14-year-old Arushi Talwar and Hemraj, her family8217;s domestic help, has been buried among the lurid details of the investigation put out by the Uttar Pradesh police and stretched out of shape by the media. And now, the killings have become a matter of political point-scoring between UP Chief Minister Mayawati and the Congress-led government at the Centre.

As the All Indian Democratic Women8217;s Association AIDWA noted, the UP police revealed their 8220;patriarchal prejudices, anti-poor bias and insensitivity8221; as they hinted at illicit relationships between Arushi and Hemraj, and between her father the accused and his colleague 8212; both emphatically denied by Arushi8217;s mother. As the media discussed every sordid implication threadbare, the police8217;s incompetence and gap-riddled narrative was all too obvious. Mayawati, defending her force, cited 8220;grave8221; electronic evidence that propriety did not permit her to make public; but she wanted to refer the case to the CBI. Meanwhile, the minister of state for home, Sriprakash Jaiswal, declared that the matter was better handled by the state. Both the BJP and Congress took digs at Mayawati8217;s lack of faith in her own police force; and Renuka Chowdhury, Union minister for women and child development, twisted the knife further, claiming that she reacted to the case as a mother and a woman while Maya was playing cold politics. Mayawati has, of course, lobbed the accusation right back, blaming the Centre for politicising the tragedy.

Either way, the deplorable truth is that Arushi and Hemraj8217;s murders have brought out the basest instincts 8212; while the UP police certainly must be blamed for their sleazy tell-alls and the CM8217;s readiness to refer the matter to the CBI demonstrates the police8217;s ineptitude, the political accusations and counter-accusations also demean the victims. While solving the case and delivering justice is a crucial end, the means are just as important 8212; and this protracted, very public wrangle over Arushi and Hemraj8217;s lives and deaths has shaken our faith in the criminal justice system and in the common decency of our politicians.