Nithari killings: Supreme Court stays Surinder Koli's death sentence - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the death sentence of Surinder Koli, convicted in February last year for raping and killing 14-year-old Rimpa Haldar in Nithari in Noida. Haldar was one of the 19 young women and children from Nithari whose body parts were found in a drain behind the bungalow of Koli's employer Moninder Singh Pandher in December 2006. Haldar was called by Kohli to work as housemaid at Pandher's Bunglow. She had gone missing before the disclosure of the Nithari killings. In her case, Koli and Pandher were both given the death sentence in February 2009 by a Ghaizabad court. However, the CBI, which is investigating the case, said it had no evidence against Pandher. The judge over-ruled the CBI and said there was incriminating evidence to prove Pandher was guilty. The Allahabad High Court then acquitted Pandher but agreed that Koli deserved the death sentence. The Nithari killings that came to light three years ago made people across the country flabbergasted, as it involved brutal killings of innocent children. The skeletal remains of the children were first discovered in a sewer behind Pandher's plush D-5 bungalow in Noida's Sector 31.The human skulls were stuffed in 57 gunny bags along with 700 bone pieces. Special Judge Rema Jain completed the proceedings after re-cross examination of former Noida police officer Dinesh Yadav on January 27 and the recording of statements of Pandher and Kohli. A total of 19 cases of killings were registered at the Noida police station in December 2006. All of them were transferred to the CBI for further investigation.