Surinder Koli.
Ghaziabad (U.P.): A special court on Friday awarded the death sentence to businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surinder Koli for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl, one of 19 victims in the sensational Nithari serial killings.
Special CBI judge Rama Jain termed the crimes committed by 55-year-old Pandher and 38-year-old Koli the “rarest of rare” deserving capital punishment.
While counsel for the victim’s family Khalid Khan described the verdict as a “slap in the face of the CBI,” which gave a clean chit to Pandher, the businessman’s son, Karandeep Singh, said his father was innocent and he would appeal against the judgment in the Allahabad High Court.
The court on Thursday convicted Pandher and Koli under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code for murder, rape, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence.
In its final arguments on Friday, the CBI sought the death penalty for Koli but left to the court the quantum of punishment for Pandher as the agency had no charges against him in this case.
The judge said: “No more penalty could be awarded to the accused persons; otherwise, they deserve more punishment as their act of murder and rape in this particular case was beyond all the canons of humanity.” After the verdict, Pandher broke into tears while Koli remained unmoved.
‘Remorseless’Earlier, during final arguments, CBI counsel argued that Koli had no right to live in society because even today he was remorseless. “He continues to be a threat to society,” Mr. Ahluwalia said. — PTI
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