Nithari Killings: 'Acquitting These Monsters', Victims' Parents Rue HC Verdict On Case

The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted Surendra Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher in all the cases they were convicted in the 2006 Nithari murders case.

New Delhi: After the Allahabad High Court acquitted the prime accused in the Nithari killings, victims' parents expressed sadness over the judgment and said that they were not satisfied with the ruling.

Ram Kishan, whose three-year-old son was one of the victims of the 2006 serial killings, hurled a brick into the abandoned bungalow of Moninder Singh Pandher, in anger and frustration after the verdict was delivered.

Emotions overflowed as nearly two-decade-old wounds were opened again on Monday with an order of the Allahabad High Court that acquitted domestic help Surendra Koli and his employer Pandher in the case for lack of evidence.

Jhabbu Lal (63) and Sunita Devi (60), who lost their daughter, expressed sadness over the latest judgment.

"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," Lal said.

Sunita Devi told the reporters, "We appeal to PM (Narendra) Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath that those who killed our children should be hanged." "What kind of law is this which is acquitting these monsters," she wondered.

Ashok and Rajwati, who had lost their five-year-old son in the serial killings, said, "Our son was born eight years after our marriage...We have lost all hope of justice now, it's been 17 years now."

The Allahabad High Court on Monday acquitted Surendra Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher in all the cases they were convicted in the 2006 Nithari murders case. The High Court canceled the death sentence given to Surendra Koli in 12 cases and Moninder Singh Pandher in two cases. The verdict has come as a major blow to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The High Court canceled the death sentence that was awarded to the convicts by Ghaziabad's CBI court. A division bench of Justice Ashwini Kumar Mishra and Justice Sha Rizvi gave the order.

However, the court upheld the death sentence of Koli in one case and on the basis of delay, commuted the same in another case to life imprisonment.

The convicts had filed 14 applications in the high court and the decision has been pronounced on the same. Surendra Koli had filed an appeal against the death sentence given to him in 12 cases while Moninder Singh Pandher had filed a plea against the punishment given in two cases.