New Delhi: A special prayer was held for murdered teen Aarushi Talwar at her school when it reopened Tuesday even as her schoolmates and their parents seemed only too aware of the media attention on the case.

Aarushi was a Class 9 student of the Delhi Public School (DPS) at Noida and the school had been closed for summer vacations when her murder was discovered May 16, shocking people, especially students and teachers.

The special prayer was held during the morning assembly. The school also observed a one-minute silence in her memory.

Students coming to the school were aware of the huge media spotlight on the case, which has been splashed on the front pages of newspapers as the Noida double murder. Aarushi family's domestic help Hemraj, who was initially suspected to be behind her killing, was also found murdered at their Noida home.

Two primary class students could be heard discussing the incident. But when IANS asked them about it, they refused to talk.

Even parents who had come to drop their wards to school chose not to talk to the media.

Simran, a Class 10 student who was more forthcoming, told IANS: "I knew Aarushi but I was not very close to her. Initially I was shocked by the news and so scared that I was not able to sleep alone.

"However now - after so many weeks - I feel better. There should be counselling sessions for students. We all are waiting for the culprit to be caught."

Another Class 10 student, Abhinav, said: "When I first heard the news, I was very shocked that something of this kind had taken place involving my schoolmate."

He too felt that students needed counselling to deal with the fear created by Aarushi's murder.

Some parents said their children were refusing to sleep with them because Aarushi's father Rajesh Talwar is still a suspect in the case.

One such parent who didn't wished to be named said: "I don't know what to do. My child now seems afraid of me."

Aarushi was found dead in her Jalvayu Vihar apartment in suburban Noida May 16. The Noida police initially named the Talwars' domestic aide Hemraj as the prime suspect but retracted the statement after his body was found on the terrace of the house the next day.

Her father Rajesh Talwar was arrested May 23, and the police said he killed his daughter in a fit of rage. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is now probing the murder.

A second arrest in the case was made June 13 when the CBI held Talwar's compounder Krishna. On Friday, Rajkumar, the domestic aide of Talwars' doctor friends Praful and Anita Durrani was arrested and his bloodstained T-shirt and bicycle seized.

The case only seems to be turning more mysterious, with the CBI not stating if has established a motive behind Aarushi's murder.

 

Source : IANS