The Devil's Advocate

The country stands avenged today. After five years, we finally know who killed her. Some of us are rejoicing at the victory, yet others are applauding the expertise of the involved lawyers, judges and investigators. Newspapers and TV channels are going crazy breaking the news to the public who is hungry to grab every juicy detail.

If until some years ago it was the media that went berserk trying all such sensational, high visibility cases for the victim, now it is the social media. Twitter and facebook are abuzz with activity -- opinions, debates, criticism, judgement -- the works. It went into frenzy a week ago and it is at its frenzied best tonight. As a country, we love passing judgements -- at every level and what better opportunity than to excoriate the accused of a rape or a murder?

I do not follow Twitter and on facebook too I have a very small circle, even then all I see on my page is people's reaction to the verdict and the sentence handed out to the Talwars, some want them hanged others are not done expressing shock and horror over the incident. I am no one to speak against the judgement or the sentence, I have not followed every little detail of the case neither do I have any sympathy with the convicts. But, I do have an opinion which is slightly different from most. 

All said and done, the truth is that no one, other than the convicts themselves, know what happened in the house that night. What we have is a reconstruction of the event as seen by the eyes of the investigating body. For a moment, lets assume if the parents have not killed the girl and the man, that they are speaking the truth. 

Imagine the plight of a dead child's parents who are also being held guilty for her murder. They have not only lost their child but also their career, their reputation and their life -- as they had known it. For the rest of their lives they will not only live without their daughter but also without all that they had earned with their sweat and blood. 

I maybe too naive to go by the face value of the event but I find it very hard to believe that any parent can kill their child only because she was in a compromising position with a man. Come on, what world do we live in? What is new or unusual about a teenaged kid exploring her sexuality? And we all know that kids do it, mostly with someone elder to them. Does that warrant death?

The theory says that the girl was accidentally hit but instead of taking her to a hospital or even providing her first aid the parents got busy in killing the servant, left the daughter to die, slashed her throat and calmly dressed the scene and waited for the morning. Believable?

In my opinion, the only people who can be so unperturbed by death are usually hardened criminals or doctors, any normal human being can not go through so much in a matter of a few hours yet be so calm. And the Talwars were neither criminals nor doctors. But then, dentists consider themselves to be doctors.

Then again, is it possible that all of the above is true. After all, rage can make the most sensible of people lose their sense. And if the girl was dead anyway, what was the point in going and telling the world about it? They might have taken a chance. 

In any case the parents will suffer forever,  with or without the conviction, they are on a lifelong sentence.