Ghaziabad court defers hearing of Aarushi murder case to Feb.29

Ghaziabad - A Ghaziabad court on Saturday deferred its hearing of the Aarushi murder case till February 29.

Aarushi's parents -- Nupur and Rajesh Talwar -- did not attend the hearing.

Aarushi, a Class 8 student of Delhi Public School, was found with her throat slit in her bedroom at her parents' Noida apartment May 16, 2008.The family's domestic help Hemraj, whom police initially thought to be the prime suspect, was also found killed on the apartment's terrace a day later.

The murders grabbed national headlines and every development was followed keenly - the charges, counter-charges and court drama involving the parents and investigators.

Rajesh Talwar was arrested and kept behind bars for 50 days in connection with the crime but was later let off because of lack of evidence against him. The CBI then arrested Krishna and two other domestic helps in the neighbourhood, Raj Kumar and Vijay Mandal, who too were let out on bail later.

In December 2010, the CBI filed a closure report in the case before the special court in Ghaziabad, but stated that it had circumstantial evidence against the Talwars in Aarushi's murder.

However, Talwar approached court against the closure, demanding further investigation. The apex court too rejected the closure report, and in a dramatic twist summoned both the parents to face trial, and directed the CBI to prosecute them.