Nithari Killings: Victims Were Offered Money to Weaken the Case

On the ninth anniversary of the Nithari Killings, it figures that victims were offered money to weaken the case.

Remembering Nithari killings on its 9th anniversary. (Photo: The Quint)

On the 9th anniversary of the deadly Nithari serial murder case, The Quint revisits the village. On 29 December 2006, the shocking incident of serial murder case was unearthed in Nithari village in Noida after human remains were discovered from drains behind the bungalow of Moninder Singh Pandher.

Nothing seemed to have changed in these many years. The drains still run dirty and the bungalow in which several children were raped and brutally murdered is in shambles.

Jhabbu lal, who lost his 10-year-old daughter Jyoti, is still running from pillar to post for justice with little hope to achieve any time soon.

<p>A lawyer offered me 1 crore rupees as bribe to take back Pandher’s name from my case. But I didn’t accept the bribe. Wherein many other victim families retracted their statement against Pandher. I didn’t see them taking bribe, but what else could be the reason?</p>

<p>Jhabbu Lal, Jyoti’s Father</p>

3- year-old Harsh’s mother is yet to overcome the trauma of losing her child. She says after losing her first child, she is over protective about her second, and hence never allows him to play alone.

<p>We’re still scared to send our kids out in open. The accused should be killed the same way our children were killed. That house is still lying the same way. It only reminds me how brutally my child was killed.<br></p>

<p>Poonam, Harsh’s Mother</p>

On the 9th anniversary of the deadly Nithari serial murder case, The Quint revisits the village.

Where the Case Stands

A total of 16 cases were registered and investigated by the CBI. Out of these, in 5 cases both Pandher and his servant Koli are accused. In the rest of the cases, only Koli is an accused.

So far the lower court has pronounced judgement in 7 cases. In one of the cases, both Pandher and Koli were convicted, and in the remaining six, only the latter was convicted. In 2007, both of them were given death penalty by the lower court. But in 2008, the Allahabad High court acquitted Pandher from charges, making Koli the prime accused. The CBI appealed in the Supreme Court against the acquittal of Pandher, and the matter has been pending since 2008.

In jail for nearly seven years, Pandher managed to secure bail from the Allahabad high court in August 2014. But four more cases are pending against him in the lower court. Koli’s mercy petition to pardon his death penalty is still pending with the President.

<p>Initially the parents of the victims were following the case, but now all of them are busy earning their livelihood. Except for a few parents, in whose case Pandher is an accused, no one bothered to check about the status of the case. Certainly, many parents retracted their statement to save Pandher which could be because of monetary gain.<br></p>

<p>Khalid Khan, Victim’s Lawyer</p>

Khan goes on to add that the statements from the victims’ parents were crucial, because both Pandher and Koli aided the police in collecting evidence like clothes, chappals, etc. But since some parents changed their statement in favour of Pandher, he managed to get a clean chit in many of the cases.

Unfortunately, children continue to go missing from Noida, thanks to the callous approach of the police.

<p>Nothing has changed. We still hear news of child trafficking. We need to think of ways to ensure such incidents don’t occur.<br></p>

<p>Lokesh Batra, RTI Activist</p>

The Nithari serial killings seem to be yet another case in which the affluent managed to go scot free, while the underprivileged victims still live with the hope of getting justice.