The nation was shocked when Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar, a doctor couple, were pronounced guilty of murdering their 14-year-old daughter, Aarushi in 2008. The verdict was given by a CBI Court in 2013. However, the Allahabad High Court acquitted the couple today.

Nearly a decade after one of the most sensational murders in India, no one knows for sure who killed Aarushi Talwar.

Neither does there is clarity on the death of Hemraj, the domestic help employed in the Noida residence of Aarushi’s dentist parents, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar.

Conspiracy theories have swirled around the twin murders – the bodies recovered a day apart from the same house – a book-selling book written and even a Bollywood film made on the incident that grabbed headlines for months and riveted the nation.

The Delhi Public School student was found with her throat slit and stab wounds to her head, in her bedroom on May 14, 2008. The immediate suspect was Hemraj, from Nepal, who was missing. But a day later, his body was found on the terrace of the Talwar’s apartment block.

Uttar Pradesh police, which probed the crime initially, then shifted focus to the Talwars, the only other people present in the house on the night of the incident.

It was a big embarrassment for the police when their “main suspect” turned up dead. Police were accused of shoddy investigation as they reportedly failed to collect crucial evidence and did not even seal the crime scene, the Talwars’ home.

Such was the chaos that then inspector general of police Gurdarshan Singh even got Aarushi’s name wrong and referred to her as Shruti during a press conference.

Police then arrested Rajesh on charges of killing his daughter in a fit of rage when he allegedly saw her in an “objectionable position” with Hemraj.

Talwars release seems to have brought an air of relief among a large section of people, including Bollywood celebrities.