By Mayank Aggarwal and Kanu Sarda, IANS,
Ghaziabad : The businessman and his help, accused in the rapes and murders of 19 children and young women in what are known as the Nithari killings, were a study in contrast Thursday – Moninder Singh Pandher relaxed and saying his son had met him in jail, and a grim Surendra Koli admitting that his guilt had kept his family away.
“It’s been two years and two months, none of my family members have visited me in the jail,” Koli told IANS outside the courtroom in this Uttar Pradesh town adjacent to New Delhi, hours before the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court’s first judgement in the murders that shocked the nation with its overtones of sexual abuse and even cannibalism.
“They are aware of my guilt and do not want to be in touch,” a barely audible Koli said in Hindi.
Koli, in his late 30s, accused in the abduction, rape and murder of 14-year-old Rimpa Haldar, was seen murmuring prayers with folded hands.
The CBI has said that Haldar was strangled and then cut to pieces by Koli with two kitchen knives and an axe four years ago. Its chargesheet said Koli was suffering from necrophilia (urge to have sex with a corpse) and necrophagia (urge to eat the flesh of a body).
Koli and his employer Pandher, 47, who have been in jail since December 2006, were brought from Dasna jail to court number 27 of special CBI judge Rama Jain in a special police vehicle around 9.50 a.m.
A visibly tense Koli, dressed in blue trousers and red shirt, had his hands tied by rope, while Pandher, wearing beige trousers and a sweater to match, was at ease.
Surrounded by policemen, both sat for over half-an-hour on a long stone bench just outside the second floor courtroom before they were called inside by Jain.
A composed Pandher said his son Karan had been visiting him in jail. The businessman, who seemed to have lost weight and appeared lean, was not handcuffed.
“I am teaching English literature to people in jail,” Pandher told IANS in fluent English.
According to police officials present outside the court, Pandher has been teaching English to Varanasi bomb blast accused Waliullah, who in turn is teaching him Persian and Arabic.
Pandher said his diabetes problem had aggravated in jail.
The duo were arrested on Dec 29, 2006 after Noida police found 15 skulls outside the businessman’s D-5 bungalow in Noida on the outskirts of the national capital.
Subsequently, more bones were recovered from the drain behind the bungalow – eventually, investigations revealed that the remains belonged to four women and 15 young girls.