Nithari killings: Surender Koli gets death in 4th case

Ghaziabad : A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Wednesday sentenced Surender Koli to death for rape and murder of 12-year-old Deepali, one of the 19 victim ? all young women and children ? of the sensational Nithari killings case.

This is the fourth time Koli was given death penalty. He has been tried for two murders so far.

Koli was found guilty under IPC sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape) and 364 (kidnapping) and was fined Rs 10,000.

Deepali had gone missing in June 2006. She was identified after DNA tests were conducted on her skeletal remains recovered from a drain.

All the cases are being heard separately by the special court and the CBI has already filed charge-sheets in 16 cases.

While Koli, 38, has been charged with rape, abduction and murder in all the cases, 55-year-old Moninder Singh Pandher, behind whose bungalow the body parts were found, is co-accused in only six cases.

The judgement in the first case of Rimpa Haldar was pronounced about a year ago, in which both Pandher and Koli were awarded capital punishment.