A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Friday sentenced Maninder Singh Pandher and his dometic help Surendra Koli to death in one of the 16 cases of the infamous Nithari serial murder cases.
The special CBI Judge PK Tiwari, while pronouncing the judgement said that both of the accused are involved in the the murder, rape of their 20-year-old domestic help, Pinky Sarkar, and deserved to be punished.
According to media reports, the quantum of the punishment will be declared on Friday.
Tiwari ruled, that since Pandher was involved in the crime along with his domestic help, he is also liable for the maximum punishment as described in law and that is death.
Koli had dragged the victim inside the house and made her unconscious, raped her, and then ate her flesh, therefore death sentence is the only option in law. Both are to be hanged till death, the judge said.
Both are to be taken in judicial custody, Tiwari added.
On Thursday, the court held both guilty under Sections 376 (rape), 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence or false information) of the Indian Penal Code.
Chargesheets were filed against the duo in 16 of the 19 cases, out of which nine cases have been decided till date.
Maninder Singh Pandher has been found guilty in three cases and has been sentenced to death in two. His aide, Surinder koli, has been awarded death sentence in the eight cases.
The Nithari killings took place in 2005 and 2006 when minor girls, young women and children disappeared mysteriously from around Pandher’s Sector 31 residence in Noida.
Koli, who worked for Pandher, is accused of luring victims to his employer’s house where he attempted rape and later dismembered their body parts, which were later thrown into a sewage tank.
(With agency inputs)