Koli gets death in fifth Nithari murder, rape case

Ghaziabad  :  Domestic help Surendra Koli was Monday given the death penalty by a court here for murder and rape of a five-year-old girl in the 2005-06 serial killings of women and kids in Noida’s Nithari. This is his fifth conviction.

The convict, who was present in the court, appeared composed as Central Bureau of Investigation’s Special Judge S. Lal pronounced the judgment.

Koli is the lone convict for kidnap, rape and murder and causing disappearance of evidence in the case.

In a 75-page judgment, the court convicted Koli for the incident involving the five-year-old girl, identified as Kavita in the documents to hide her identity.

CBI counsel Jai Prakash Sharma said Kavita’s case was the fifth out of the 16 Nithari cases in which the formal set of charges were filed. The cases shocked the nation with the brutality and hints of cannibalism.

Giving details of the judgment, Sharma said the court awarded Koli death sentence and Rs.10,000 penalty for murder, 10 years’ imprisonment and Rs.5,000 penalty for rape, life imprisonment and Rs.50,000 penalty for abduction and seven years’ jail term and Rs.5,000 for tampering with evidence.

In four earlier cases, Koli was awarded capital punishment. His employer and businessman Maninder Singh Pandher is a co-accused in six cases. They were arrested in December 2006.