Nithari killings: Allahabad HC acquits both accused; victims’ family unhappy

Prayagraj/New Delhi, Oct 16: The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted domestic help Surendra Koli and his employer Moninder Singh Pandher in the sensational 2006 Nithari serial killings in which they were facing death sentence, holding that the prosecution failed to prove the guilt “beyond reasonable doubt” and that the investigation was “botched up”.
However, the judgement in the case bringing back memories of the chilling crime targeting young girls that came to light with skeletal remains being found behind a Noida bungalow in NCR may only see Pandher walking out of the jail. Koli, the key accused, will continue to serve the life imprisonment awarded to him in the killing of a 14-year-old girl.
Reversing the death sentence given to Koli in 12 cases and Pandher in two cases, the high court noted that the prosecution has failed to prove the guilt of both the accused “beyond reasonable doubt, on the settled parameters of a case based on circumstantial evidence” and the probe was “nothing short of a betrayal of public trust by responsible agencies.” The two were charged with rape and murder and sentenced to death in the killings that horrified the nation with the details on sexual assault, brutal murder and hints of possible cannibalism. While Koli is in a Ghaziabad prison, Pandher is lodged in a Noida jail.
In Noida, family members of the victims expressed disappointment over the verdict and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to hang the killers.
“We are not satisfied with the judgment. This is not right. When someone killing several children gets acquitted, imagine what punishment will those get who kill just one or two people,” said Jhabbu Lal (63) and Sunita Devi (60), who lost their daughter.
Devi, busy ironing clothes but intermittently speaking to reporters, said, “We appeal to PM (Narendra) Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath that those who killed our children should be hanged.” The high court observed that prosecution was based on the confessional statement given by Koli to the UP Police on December 29, 2006 but the procedure required to be followed for recording his disclosure leading to recovery of biological remains i.e. skulls, bones and skeleton etc. has been given a “complete go by”.
“The casual and perfunctory manner in which important aspects of arrest, recovery and confession have been dealt with are most disheartening, to say the least.” A two-judge bench of Justices Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi and Ashwani Kumar Mishra allowed the appeals filed by Koli and Pandher, who had challenged the death sentence given by a CBI court in Ghaziabad.
“The Allahabad High Court order may pave the way for Pandher to walk out of jail,” the businessman’s lawyer Manisha Bhandari told PTI over phone.
It said that “failure” of investigation agencies to probe the angle of organ trade even after recommendations from the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development was “nothing short of a betrayal of public trust by responsible agencies.” “Loss of life of young children and ladies is a matter of serious concern particularly when their lives were brought to an end in a most inhuman manner but that, in itself, would not justify denial of fair trial to the accused nor would it justify their punishment even in the absence of evidence to implicate them.” The high court termed the investigation “botched up” with “brazen violation” of “basic norms of collecting evidence”. (PTI)