12 February,2009 12:19 PM IST | | Anshuman G Dutta
Moninder Singh Pandher faces verdict today in the murder of Rimpa Halder, 14, one of the children slaughtered in his Nithari bungalow
Ghaziabad sessions court will pass its verdict today in the murder of 14-year-old Rimpa Halder, one of the 19 children found slaughtered in Moninder Singh Pandher's Nithari bungalow
Anil Halder and his wife Dolly have been waiting for this day for the last two years.
The Ghaziabad sessions court is expected to announce on Thursday its verdict in the murder of their 14 year-old-daughter Rimpa at Moninder Singh Pandher's Nithari bungalow.
The case, in which the victims' lawyers sensed holes in the CBI investigation (see box), could nail Moninder Singh Pandher, whom the CBI has so far kept out of any major charge. "The CBI has distorted the evidence collected from Moninder Singh Pandher's house to save him," said 43-year-old Anil.
Although the family has lost all faith in the police and the CBI, their trust in the judiciary remains intact.
"I know we will get justice here. The almighty can't close all doors on us," said Anil, in a choked voice. "My daughter's soul will rest in peace only when both Moninder Singh Pandher and Koli are hanged."
| The story so far |
| 'u00a0Rimpa used to work as a domestic help along with her mother in the bungalows near the residence of Moninder Singh Pandher in Nithari, Noida. 'u00a0She went missing on February 2, 2005. 'u00a0A missing complaint was lodged at Sector 20 police station in Noida on July 20, 2005. 'u00a0A search team of Noida police recovered 19 skulls from the drain adjacent to Pandher's residence. 'u00a016 of them were of missing children. One of them was found to be of Halder after a DNA test. 'u00a0Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher were arrested by the police on December 29, 2006. 'u00a0CBI filed 15 charge-sheets in the sensational killings, exonerating Moninder Singh Pandher from murder and rape charges. However, a special CBI court rapped the agency and Moninder Singh Pandher was made a co-accused with Koli in at least six cases, including that of Halder. |
| u00a0 |
| Holes in CBI's tale?u00a0 |
| Contradictory reports by Noida police and CBI Halder's lawyer Khalid Khan pointed out how the CBI distorted evidence to save Moninder Singh Pandher in the murder case. "When Noida police were investigating the case, they had named both Moninder Singh Pandher and Koli in the list of articles collected from Pandher's house among other evidences. But when the case was shifted to the CBI, Moninder Singh Pandher was given a clean chit. It was only because of a special order of the court that he was included as an additional accused," Khan said. "The CBI has taken great painsu00a0without any known reasonu00a0to show that Moninder Singh Pandher was not involved in the crime. But some victims' families had the copy of the list of evidence prepared by the Noida police which exposed the investigating agency's intentions to save the accused," said BPS Dhakrey, counsel for Rimpa Halder. Unsubstantiated documents in favour of Pandher The CBI claimed that Moninder Singh Pandher was in Australia when Rimpa was murdered. However, only his wife's travel documents were produced in the court. "It is a classic case of perjury where the investigating agency submitted wrong documents to save the accused," said Dhakrey. |
