Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Noida's Suspect X

The Aarushi case (aka Noida Double Murder case) is in the headlines again, unsolved (and unexplained) even after, like, 100 yrs of investigation (or mis-investigation, should I call it?). Dentists have never suffered back this much - Aarushi's parents, dentists (and the prime suspects in this murder primarily due to lack of any other viable theories), have already been strangled by the media, and are at the crest of infamous-ity. They have faced all kinds of allegation, as if they were held hostage in a Rakhi Sawant talk show. Talk of karma... route canals you give, route canals you get. But, humour aside, I'm startled at the reciprocity of this public to Aarushi's parents' suffering. To believe they/we sided against Manu Sharma. I'm proposing a theory that either we enter some mental arrest when things come coated in a shade of gray - the panicked pigeons that we are, or that we relegate our thought process to our darling media to such an extent that we are rendered incapable of independent thought.
To anybody who begins to look at me with a raised eyebrow must understand that the investigative process finished inconclusive, and the code of law doesn't judge based on public opinion.

What connect I could find with the aforementioned investigative boo boo, is a novel that I'd just finished reading: The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino. Higashino, who's been dubbed "The Japanese Stieg Larsson" (right on the book's cover), turned in a good investigative fiction with this one. Its an easy read, albeit with a slightly convoluted ending that needs some dedicated attention span.

I have no intention of giving a full book review here. Where I want to arrive at is [a character in the book, a physics prof] Manubu Yukawa, sort of a Sherlock H, the genius that ultimately nails our Suspect X. There are chapters when he, despite evidence being overwhelmingly convincing, tread cautiously, often against the tide. See where his investigation comes from, and its a relief to know that somebody can put a coherent narrative around such an healthy process of deduction.

Seeing Aarushi's case unsolved makes me cringe. Seeing her parents being swallowed in the wide mouth of speculation makes me cringe even more. Seeing people that pretend to be blind to the underlying corruption that saw destruction of evidence and collusion of the law with the lawbreakers makes my biceps wither.

PS: wanna read the book? just ask.

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