Aarushi’s mother Nupur Talwar with a relative in New Delhi. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi, May 24: A boy from Aarushi Talwar’s school had a question for his father yesterday.

“He was sitting glued to the television set. Then he asked me if parents could really kill their children,” Ramesh Ramachandran said. “I didn’t know what to say.”

Many shocked parents in Delhi don’t know what to say or do as their children try to digest the news that 15-year-old Aarushi’s dentist father has been arrested for her murder.

Some, like Kabir Khanna, have chosen the “ostrich” option at a time psychologists are saying the scandal may scar many children and shatter their trust, especially those who have communication problems with their parents.

Khanna, who has a daughter the same age as Aarushi, has been trying over the past few days to keep the sensational details of the case from her — a difficult task considering the wide media coverage.

“My wife and I tried not to watch news when she was around,” Khanna said. “We also hid the papers from her today so she wouldn’t get to know everything. It’s our way of protecting her.”

Meera Suri, a grandmother, has also chosen this option though she knows it offers little protection.

“I know she (the granddaughter) will talk to her friends,” Suri said. “But she’s too young. Luckily, the schools are closed for the summer holidays, so maybe she won’t get to know.”

Shyama Chona, principal of Delhi Public School (DPS) R.K. Puram, has asked parents of very young children to keep their television sets switched off, or at least not tune into the news channels.

“For older children, of course, we can’t do that,” Chona said, adding her school was planning parenting classes after the summer break.

For parents whose children study in DPS Noida, Aarushi’s school, there’s no such escape. Even students whose acquaintance with the murdered girl was limited to passing her in the school corridor are talking about it all the time, struggling to make sense of the tragedy.

“My son used to sit next to her in the last few weeks because the school had examinations and different classes were made to sit together,” said Vijay Thakur. “He is really upset.”

Thakur came back home on Friday to find his son deeply distressed.

“His friends are all discussing it. There is no other topic of conversation among the children. I spoke to him at length but have not hidden anything. He reads about cases like this all the time. The only difference this time is that it happened close to home.”

The teens have learnt that Aarushi’s father is accused of killing her to stop her from exposing his affair with a colleague.

“This is such an ugly, warped (crime). Parents need to explain things to their children. When they don’t and supposedly eliminate their child, the fears of kids on the borderline will just be confirmed,” said Amit Sen, an adolescent psychiatrist.

(All names of parents changed on request.)