A court in India has freed two men who were on death row for the rape and murder of 19 women and children in 2005.
Surinder Koli and his businessman employer Moninder Singh Pandher were convicted in 2009 in a gruesome case that shocked the country. They were held in 2006 after body parts were found near their home near Delhi.
On Monday, the Allahabad High Court found Koli innocent in 12 cases in which he was sentenced to death. The court also found Pandher not guilty in the two cases against him. The two men were acquitted due to “lack of evidence”, their lawyer told the media.
At least 19 young women and children were raped, killed and dismembered in Pandher's house where Koli worked as a servant in the wealthy suburb of Noida near Delhi.
The murders were discovered in 2006 after body parts and children's clothing were found inside a sewer in front of the house. The children, remains of whom were found hidden in bags, were allegedly lured to their deaths by Koli, who offered them sweets and chocolate. He confessed in court to cannibalism and necrophilia.
India's top investigation agency had registered 19 cases against the two men. While Koli was charged for murder, abduction, rape and destruction of evidence, Pandher was charged for immoral trafficking. The murders caused national outrage, with many accusing the police of negligence. The media had dubbed the case “house of horrors” because of the shocking nature of the crimes.
Local residents said that police failed to act because many of those reported missing came from poor families. They lived in a nearby slum called Nithari and the case was referred as the “Nithari killings” for many years.
— CutC by bbc.com
