Doc known to Talwars asked me to keep out mention of rape: Witness

Deposing as a prosecution witness in a Ghaziabad court where the parents of Noida teenager Aarushi are being tried for her murder and that of their domestic help Hemraj, retired Deputy Superintendent of Police K K Gautam on Thursday said he was asked by Dr Sushil Choudhary, "a friend of Dr Dinesh Talwar", to ensure there was no mention of rape in Aarushi's post-mortem report.

Dinesh Talwar is the brother of Rajesh Talwar, Aarushi's father who is being tried along with his wife Nupur for the 2008 killings. Lawyers for the Talwars have all along maintained that there was no "contact" between Aarushi and Hemraj.

Gautam told the court that around noon on May 16, 2008 he received a phone call from Choudhary who told him that Dinesh Talwar's niece had been murdered.

"Choudhary told me that the body has been sent for post-mortem. He asked me to speed up the process. He also asked me to ensure that there was no mention of rape in the post-mortem report. I told him that I could not help him in this regard," Gautam said.

The next day, Gautam said, Choudhary called him again at 9 am and told him that he was going to the Talwar house to pay his condolences and asked if he would accompany him.

"At the house, Sushil Choudhary introduced me to Dinesh Talwar. Rajesh and Nupur Talwar had gone to Haridwar with the remains (after Aarushi's cremation). I asked if we could see the crime scene. Dinesh Talwar took me around the house. He took us to the stairs outside where he showed us blood stains on the railing going up. Talwar told me to ask police to open the door to the terrace. After that, I called SP (City) Mahesh Mishra who said he was coming himself and was also sending a police team. Soon, Dattaram Nauneria (SHO) arrived on the scene and broke open the lock since Dinesh Talwar said that he did not have the keys. The terrace had a lot of blood right at the centre and there was a body near the AC vent. It seemed that the body had been dragged there... Police asked Dinesh Talwar if he knew whose body was this and he said he had no idea," Gautam told the court.

... contd.

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