As television channels aired live updates on the first verdict in the many cases of the Nithari killings in Noida, Jhabbu Lal, the father of one of the victims, was ironing clothes on his ‘thela’ in Nithari, watching justice unfold on a portable TV set his son recently bought for him.

“Ab police wale baar-baar humein bewakoof nahi bata payenge,” (Now, the policemen won’t be able to call us fools) he said after Special Judge Rama Jain held Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surinder Koli guilty of rape and murder of 14-year-old Rimpa Haldar.

For the families of victims of the Nithari killings, justice has come as a vindication of their decision to fight against the culprits of one of the most gruesome serial killings in recent times.

Speaking to Newsline over the phone, Anil Haldar, father of Rimpa, said, “We are happy at the decision and relieved that the suffering has ended; both for us and probably for our murdered daughter.”

In the 19 cases filed in the the Nithari killings, seven families had accused Pandher, who lived at D-5 in Sector-31, barely a few steps from Jhabbu’s ‘thela’. In the other cases, the CBI had proved Koli guilty of rape and murder and given a clean chit to Pandher.

Of the eight witnesses, one backtracked from his statements while another died under mysterious circumstances — Jatin Sarkar was considered the most important witness by lawyer Khalid Khan representing the victims’ kin.

Sarkar had gone back to his village in Murshidabad district of West Bengal and died there. His wife Bandana Sarkar had alleged foul play and filed a case.

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