Noida, 16 Oct: As the media looks on, Ram Kishan hurls a brick into the abandoned home of Moninder Singh Pandher, his expression filled with rage and anguish. One of the victims of the 2006 serial homicides was the labourer’s three-year-old kid.
On Monday, the Allahabad High Court issued a judgement acquitting domestic help Surendra Koli and his employer Pandher in the case due to a lack of proof, reopening almost two-decade-old scars.
Ram Kishan walks home, two minutes away from Pandher’s residence, without saying anything to anyone. The acquittal of Pandher and Koli brought to mind for many the horrifying crime targeting young children that was revealed when skeleton remains were discovered under Pandher’s residence in Sector 30, adjacent to Nithari hamlet.
A two-judge panel granted the petitions of Koli and Pandher, who were appealing the death sentence imposed by the CBI court in Ghaziabad. According to the high court, the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Jhabbu Lal (63) and Sunita Devi (60), who lost their daughter, voiced their grief at the recent verdict. “We are dissatisfied with the verdict. This is not acceptable.
“If someone who kills several children is acquitted, imagine what punishment those who kill just one or two people will face,” Lal remarked.
The couple makes ends meet by ironing clothing about 50 meters away from the Pandher’s abandoned cottage. Lal stated that he has spent over Rs 4 lakh in legal expenses to date and has even had to sell a land to pay for it.
Sunita Devi, who was ironing clothing but spoke to reporters occasionally, said, “We appeal to PM (Narendra) Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath that those who killed our children be hanged. What kind of law is this which is acquitting these monsters,” she said.
Ashok and Rajwati, who now own a shoe store in Nithari hamlet, lost their 5-year-old son in the serial killings.
“Eight years after our marriage, our son was born…We have lost all hope of justice after 17 years,” Rajwati remarked.
Other victim families have been informed that they no longer reside in Nithari village. Koli is now imprisoned in Ghaziabad, while Pandher is imprisoned in Noida.
