We have lost all hope, say Nithari victims’ families

Samad Hoque

New Delhi, October 17

A day after the Allahabad High Court acquitted Surinder Koli and his employer Moninder Singh Pandher in the Nithari murder case, families ravaged by the crimes expressed shock at the verdict, delivered citing “lack of evidence”.

“We have lost all hope today. Justice is not for poor people. We had poured our hearts out in courts attending hearings after hearings and look what happened? We have failed our daughter. We could not give her justice,” says Jhabbu Lal (63) whose 10-year-old daughter had gone missing in 2006 only to be recovered in the drain near Pandher’s D-5, Sector 31 Noida residence, where Koli committed the alleged crimes.

In the 17 years since they lost their daughter, nothing has changed for Jhabbu and his wife Sunita, who continue to make ends meet by ironing clothes under the shade of a tree, located yards from Pandher’s house, which lies in a shambles.

Remembering her daughter, Sunita says she wanted to become a doctor but that was not to be. “My daughter ended up in the drain. She was killed brutally. All we got was her clothes,” says Sunita, breaking into tears.

She says the poor victim families have been betrayed by the justice system.

“We want the killers to hang. Nothing else will ease our pain. How could the court let such animals away?,” asks a distraught Jhabbu Lal recalling with pain his 17 year struggle for justice and closure.

The couple had to sell a small piece of land they owned to pay for lawyers. They say it was all for nothing.

The disappointed mother of a five-year-old boy shares the same ordeal.

Owner of a small footwear shop near Pandher’s residence, Rajwati says, “As a mother I die a thousand deaths when I recall that fateful day. Not a day goes by when I do not remember Max. He was just five. I still have nightmares thinking someone could do something so brutal to a child.”

Rajwati and husband Ashok still run the same footwear shop and remember how they had just had a girl when Max went missing.

“Now the court has let them off. I wish they would come here. We will not spare them. We want death for them. Their parents should also know how it feels to lose a child,” says Rajwati, asking how the duo could be acquitted.

“If they did not kill our children, who did?” the couple asked. Speaking to The Tribune, Girjesh Sharma, a shopkeeper said, “I started running this shop only a year ago but all know the dark history of this place. The judgement reflects a failed justice system.”

Umar Ali, a barber in the area, says he gets chills remembering the old days.

“I don’t think anything less than capital punishment will give relief to the families of Nithari victims. We hope Koli and Pandher will be brought to justice by some miracle,” says Ali.