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Nithari killings: Allahabad high court acquits prime accused Surendra Koli
The Nithari murder case is one of the most notorious incidents in Noida that sent shockwaves across the country.
The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted key accused Surendra Koli and his co-accused Moninder Singh Pandher in the Nithari murder case. A bench of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Syed Aftab Husain Rizvi found Koli innocent in a series of twelve cases for which he had previously been awarded the death penalty and Pandher in two cases in which he received the death sentence.
According to the court, the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Nithari murder case is one of the most notorious incidents in Noida that sent shockwaves across the country. Koli was found guilty of rape and murder of several girl children between 2005 and 2006.
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The incident came to light in December 2006 when skeletons were found in a drain near a house in Nithari village in Noida. Upon investigation, Koli and his employer Pandher were taken into custody over the disappearance of one of the victims. After Koli's confession, the police started digging up the nearby land area and discovered the children's bodies.
The case was soon handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) - which registered 16 cases, charge sheeting Surinder Koli in all of them for murders, abductions and rapes besides destruction of evidence, and Pandher in one for immoral trafficking.
‘Haunted house’ of Pandher: The Noida Sec 31 house no one wants to talk about
Two policemen were also suspended for failing to take action despite being informed about a number of children missing.
The ‘sealed’ 435-square meter house - where the horrific killings took place - still stands at D-5, Sector 31 in Noida, however, it is ransacked and almost every other item inside is missing.
Several families of the Nithari victims shifted elsewhere over the years as they could not bear to live near the house where the alleged brutalities took place. Reportedly, most of the victim families were migrants from West Bengal and Bihar who had come to NCR in search of a livelihood.
