Besides removing all photographs of Arushi, the doctor couple has also relocated to South Delhi from the Noida flat where the teenager was found murdered on May 16 last year. And as the death anniversary approaches, a notice at Rajesh Talwar’s new dental clinic at Hauz Khas says: “Last year, on May 16, our beloved daughter Arushi suddenly left us alone in this world. We are holding a prayer meeting in her fond memory, on May 16 between 4 pm and 5 pm at Chinmaya Mission, Lodhi Road.”

Chants of “Om Sai Ram” play in the background as one enters Talwar’s “dental surgery, orthodontic and implantology centre”. There are no family photographs in the clinic but the Talwar couple’s trust in Sai Baba is writ large — there are numerous Sai Baba idols, placed at several locations in the clinic. “We have become more spiritual now; we are looking for inner peace,” Dr Rajesh Talwar told Newsline at his clinic on Monday. “We get some peace now only at the Sai Baba Temple.”

Trying to get their lives back on track, the couple has moved to Azad Apartments in South Delhi. Initially, after the murder and Rajesh Talwar’s release from Dasna Jail, they lived with his brother Dinesh in Noida. But going back to L-32, Jalvayu Vihar in Noida is out of question — that house holds too many memories of Arushi, Talwar said.

“In this year since we lost our beloved child, we have been though hell attempting to cope with this great loss,” he said. How are they trying to start life afresh? “There is no fresh life — we are dying every day. Even when I work, I keep thinking of my child. I and Nupur even avoid looking at Arushi’s pictures — we can’t stand the pain.”

Talwar said they recently looked at some of Arushi’s pictures “after a long time”. He said: “Those were pictures taken just hours before the tragedy struck. The photographs were clicked with a camera I had gifted her; I was trying to teach her photography.

“I intend to use one of those photographs for the prayer meeting on May 16 (Saturday).”

Having resumed work after a long hiatus, Talwar thanked his patients — “they have been very supportive; they know what we are going through. Arushi’s friends, too, keep calling up regularly.

“There is just one thing that I keep thinking each day now: what can I do to bring Arushi’s murderers to book so that her soul rests in peace?”

Ccase history
May 16
Arushi Talwar found dead with her throat slit in bedroom of her flat in Jal Vayu Vihar, Noida; domestic help Hemraj prime suspect

May 17
Hemraj’s body found on terrace of Talwar house
* Noida Sector-20 SHO shifted for lapses in investigations
* Autopsy report rules out sexual assault

May 18
Police say murders done with surgical precision — insider job suspected

May 19
Talwar’s former domestic help Vishnu Sharma named suspect

May 22
Family under suspicion; honour killing angle probed

May 23
Rajesh Talwar arrested, sent to 14-day judicial remand

May 27
District court sends Talwar to three days of police custody; family demands CBI inquiry

June 1
Case transferred to CBI

June 11
Talwar’s compounder Krishna emerges prime suspect for CBI after second lie-detector test on him

June 13
Krishna arrested; family friends Duranis’ help Rajkumar detained; also named suspect

July 12
Rajesh Talwar released from jail