november 29, 2014

The Crime in Nithari

S
urinder Koli convicted of murdering 14-year-old Rimpa held that Pandher himself was guilty and complicit in the
Halder, who was one of the many children who went crimes, the high court found him innocent in this case, though
missing in Nithari, Noida, Uttar Pradesh in the early other cases are pending against him.
2000s awaits execution, pending judgment on one remaining What is striking about the Nithari cases is that a credible
mercy petition in the Supreme Court that is to be heard in argument about the missing children being used for illegal organ
December. On 28 October the Supreme Court had rejected Kolis donation has been under-investigated. A set of inexplicable
appeal to review his death sentence, more than seven years facts is that well before Koli came to work in Pandhers house-
after he had been apprehended for committing crimes of mur- hold many children, mostly belonging to indigent backgrounds,
der, necrophilia, cannibalism and rape in Nithari. But if ever had gone missing. Many children also went missing at the time
there was a case where, despite the extremity of the crimes, the that Koli confessed to his crimes and there are reports of many
evidence has not been clear-cut and the trial has posed more missing children in nearby areas to this day.
questions than answers, it is that of Koli. The ambiguity in this A committee set up in 2007 by the Ministry of Women and
case is yet another example of the troubling nature of the finality Child Development to look into the Nithari incidents pointed to
delivered by capital punishment, which leaves little room for major problems in policing and law enforcement in Noida and
later setting right a possible error in the trial proceedings. state apathy towards the plight of the poor whose children
Koli was sentenced to death in the Halder case by a trial court were missing. The committee hinted at the possibility of an
in February 2009. This was upheld by the Allahabad High Court organised racket of organ trade and sexual violence against
and then by the Supreme Court in February 2011. Koli is still being women and children in the area, suggesting that the CBI look
tried in 15 more cases, four trial court convictions of which are into these angles as well. Seven years hence, these suggestions
being appealed in the Allahabad High Court. The confession by have still not been investigated.
Koli, while in custody and in the presence of a magistrate, of The ghastly revelations made by Koli in his confession are in
having committed gruesome acts on children, attracted a themselves incredible. A senior medical expert who oversaw the
tremendous amount of media attention. But many uncomfortable post-mortem examination and spoke to the 2007 central govern-
truths and questions seem to have been lost in the din. ment committee noted the surgical precision with which the
In his confession Surinder Koli admitted to committing 17 bodies were cut and how nearly uniformly certain body parts
murders of children and young women, sexually abusing them were missing. The claims of cannibalism by Koli could, the com-
and later cutting their bodies into pieces, eating parts and mittee pointed out, quoting the experts views, also be a ruse to
dumping their remains in a drain adjoining the house where he brush the possibilities of the trade of organs of the victims under
worked as a domestic help. In his confession, Koli also said he the carpet. DNA test samples of the bodies have matched only eight
had been tortured by the police into acknowledging that he had of the 18 families who are missing their children in the area.
committed the crimes. Yet, this confession was the only clinching Kolis testimony where he talks about some of the motivations
evidence during his trial. Section 24 of the Indian Evidence Act does for his crimes, if taken at face value, also points to deep psycho-
not accept as admissible evidence confessions which are made logical issues and a twisted mind that calls for mental treat-
under duress, and still the entire case of children going missing ment rather than capital punishment. Instead, the courts have
and then presumed murdered was based on a confession extracted pronounced the death penalty without healing a mind that may
through torture. It is strange that the use of such a confession has be terribly ill. The flawed nature of capital punishment and its
been upheld by the various courts that have heard the case. pointlessness has been highlighted again and again, and yet we
The investigating agencies the Uttar Pradesh police and the continue to have instances of death punishment being handed
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) narrowed their focus on the down, as to Koli.
macabre nature of Kolis confessed crimes. That led the investi- Encouragingly, Indian jurisprudence has moved a step closer
gation to discover what happened in Moninder Singh Pandhers to the abolition of capital punishment following the Shatrughan
household, where Koli worked as a domestic help. While the CBI Chauhan vs Union of India case where the Supreme Court
Economic & Political Weekly EPW november 29, 2014 vol xlix no 48 7
EDITORIALS

commuted the death sentences of 13 convicts to life imprisonment was rejected. Now, the appeal by the Peoples Union for Demo-
due to an inordinate delay in the hearing of their mercy petitions. cratic Rights to commute his sentence to life imprisonment,
Surinder Kolis mercy petition heard in the Supreme Court challenging the delay in the hearing of Kolis mercy petition, is
seeking to overturn his death penalty could have led to the the final chance to start a process that could reverse what seems
reopening of the Nithari investigations and a thorough exami- an incorrect course of action in the story of the missing children
nation of the evidence at hand. It was not to be, as the petition and murders in Nithari.

8 november 29, 2014 vol xlix no 48 EPW Economic & Political Weekly