Parents of Nithari victims rejoice the court's order; say their trust in the legal system has been justified
The parents of the 19 children raped and murdered by businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his servant Surinder Koli at Pandher's Nithari bungalow had been waiting for this day for three years. But on Friday, when at 3 pm, the judge of the special CBI court in Ghaziabad, sentenced the two accused to death, the parents could not believe their ears. Disbelief was writ large on every face as the judge of the special court, Rama Jain, announced the death sentence. The two were found guilty on Thursday of murdering 14-year-old Rimpa Haldar. Terming it as "rarest of rare" cases, Jain said the two deserved capital punishment.
"We are very happy today. We never expected that they (Pandher and Koli) would be sentenced to death. We had lost all hope. God has given us justice," said Ram Kishen, the father of Harsh, a Nithari victim.
"He (Pandher) should be hanged as soon as possible," said Jhabu Lal, the father of Jyoti, another girl killed by Pandher.
The victory was made sweeter by the fact that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had been proved wrong. "Today is one of the happiest days of my life. The victims have finally got justice. There were times when I was threatened to give up the fight. This judgement proves the CBI had goofed up its investigation," said lawyer Khalid Khan who has been fighting for the Nithari victims.
Meanwhile, a teary Pandher broke down after hearing the sentence. But Koli, who has been accused of cannibalism as well, showed no reaction.
Also present in the court was Pandher's son Karan, a student of political science in a Canadian University and the accused's wife Devender Kaur. "My father is not a murderer. At the time of the reported murders my father was in Australia and he was planning to expand his business there," said Karan.
Dev Raj, Pandher's advocate said that they had provided the court sufficient about the absence of the businessman when the murders took place. However, the court had refused to entertain the proof. "We had the documents to prove that Pandher was in Australia between January 31 and February 15. Rimpa was murdered on February 8. We furnished Pandher's tickets and travel documents but the court did not listen to us. We will appeal in the Allahabad High Court next week," he said.
Meanwhile, the parents of the victims planned to celebrate their victory on Friday evening. "We will assemble in Nithari village in the evening and then decide how to celebrate our win," said Ram Kishen.
