‘...then who killed our children’, ask families of Nithari victims after SC acquits Surendra Koli

Noida: Grief and disbelief gripped the families of victims of the 2006 Nithari serial killings, a day after the Supreme Court acquitted Surendra Koli, the only convict in the case, and ordered his immediate release if not required in any other matter.

The anguished parents of the deceased children said they have now “accepted defeat” and left their hopes for justice “in the hands of god”.

“I have no hope now. We have accepted our defeat. The rest depends on god,” 67-year-old Jhabbulal, father of a 10-year-old victim, told reporters at his home in Noida’s Sector 31.

The incident had come to light with the discovery of the skeletal remains of eight children from a drain behind businessman Moninder Singh Pandher’s house at Nithari in Noida on December 29, 2006. Koli was the domestic help at Pandher’s house at that time.

Remains of Jhabbulal’s daughter were identified through DNA testing after her clothes and slippers were recovered from the Pandher’s house in Nithari village

nearly 19 years ago.

“Who killed our daughter if they were not culprits? Why were they kept in jail for so many years then?” he asked. “I sold my Delhi plot and borrowed money at interest, hoping for justice, but nothing happened. We are poor, and now only god can help us.”

Jhabbulal, who irons clothes for a living with his wife Sunita (60), said their family has never recovered from the trauma.

“Our daughter was just 10. Those days were horrific, and even now, remembering them brings tears,” said Sunita, her voice trembling. “We did not get justice.”

Families like Jhabbulal’s said the acquittal has reopened old wounds. “It’s as if our children never existed,” said another parent.

Locals said that even years after the killings, fear lingers in the neighbourhood. The infamous D-5 bungalow in Nithari, once the scene of gruesome discoveries, now stands in ruins, covered by shrubs

and wild growth.

“Parents stopped letting their children play outside for years,” said a neighbour. “That horror still haunts the locality.”

The Supreme Court acquitted Koli in the last pending Nithari case, ordering his release from Luksar jail after two years. The verdict, citing lack of evidence, will be routed through the Ghaziabad court before his

release process begins.