No house, no family, paraded like a zoo animal in front of VIPs: Rajesh Talwar’s jail diary

New Delhi: After being accused of killing their own daughter and being incarcerated in jail for over two years, the woes of the Talwars continue, with Rajesh Talwar claiming in his prison diary that he was being paraded like a zoo animal in front of visitors.

Father of Aarushi Talwar, Rajesh Talwar’s prison diary forms one of the sources of journalist Avirook Sen’s book titled Aarushi, which deals with the mysterious death of the teenager that had created a furore and remains one of India's top 'unsolved' mysteries.

The entries date till January 2014 gives an insight into the doctor’s fears and anguish. “Still can't understand how this happened to us. If only I would have gotten up... I could not even save my dear Aaru. Very difficult to live without her,” he writes in his diary dated December 3, 2013.

Speaking of how he was transformed into a spectacle for the visitors, he writes in an entry dated 13 December, “ Met with the law mantri since deputy jailer had called me there. Felt like some sort of an animal in a zoo whom people want to see.”

He also cites other instances where he was treated so, when some people accompanied by a cricketer of the Kings XI Punjab team visited the prison. “They were made to meet me, really don't know why. How am I supposed to react?” he is reported to have written.

He also allays his fears of being sent to the Agra prison, as seen in this entry dated 29 November, “Met the jail superintendent [JS] regarding something to do for Nupur and myself. He really shocked us by saying that the media is asking why we were not being sent to Agra jail. That if it happens will completely finish us.”

But perhaps the most resonating of the entries would be the one written on the eve of the dentist couple’s 25th marriage anniversary, which said “This is the 25th year of our marriage and we will celebrate 25 years on the 19th of January. Could anybody imagine where we would be on our 25th anniversary? No Aaru, no house, no clinic, no money, and sitting in jail for something we haven't done.”