NEW DELHI: In one of the “rarest of rare” cases, a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) awarded death sentence yesterday to a businessman and his domestic employee for the murder of a young girl — one of 19 victims in a case that has shocked the country.
Moninder Singh Pandher and his servant Surinder Koli were found guilty Thursday of the rape and murder of 14-year-old Rimpa Halder, and face trial on 18 similar counts plus charges of abduction. Most of their alleged victims were children.
There was nationwide revulsion in December 2006 after police recovered skulls, bones and body parts from sewage drains near Pandher’s house — dubbed the “House of Horrors” — in Noida, a wealthy satellite city of the Indian capital New Delhi.
Koli confessed to cannibalism and necrophilia. Judge Rama Jain called the gruesome crimes the “rarest of rare” in declaring the sentence. India has not carried out an execution since 2004, although death sentences are still handed down. The victim’s family rejoiced at the sentence. “We are happy with the court’s decision. It shows that poor people like us can also get justice. This is victory for all children in the country,” said Halder’s father Anil.
In 2007, police said Koli confessed to having abducted children from a slum area, then killing them in his employer’s home and disposing of the remains in drains. Some of the victims were as young as three and police believe most of the murder victims were raped or sexually assaulted.
In all, police found 69 bags filled with human parts from sewers outside Pandher’s home. Pandher’s son Karan told reporters he would rather his father was executed immediately than have to face trial on the remaining counts which could take years, given India’s slow-moving justice system.
“I would rather wish that my father is given capital punishment,” right away, his son said. The other cases “will be fought on the same evidence and my father will be doomed to be in jail for his entire life.”
— With input from agencies
