Delhi court to declare verdict on Foster murder accused

A New Delhi court was expected to deliver a long-awaited verdict on whether an Indian man should be extradited to Britain for the 2003 rape and murder of a teenage girl.

A New Delhi court was expected on Friday to deliver a long-awaited verdict on whether Maninder Pal Singh Kohli should be extradited to Britain for the 2003 rape and murder of a teenage girl, a court official said.

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Kohli fled England in March 2003 after being named as a suspect in the rape and murder of 17-year-old Hannah Foster near Southampton, southern England. He was arrested in northeast in July 2004, after Foster's parents travelled to India and offered a reward for information leading to his arrest.

"The verdict will be announced on Friday," an official at central New Delhi's Patiala courthouse told AFP.

In 2005, Kohli, who worked as a truck driver in Britain, admitted in interviews with two Indian television channels to killing the teenage girl, but he later retracted the comments and has been fighting extradition.

He has challenged DNA findings linking him with the crime, saying it is not conclusive evidence.