CBI court on Monday convicted businessman Maninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surender Koli hanged till death in the Nithari serial rape and murder case.

On 5 October, 2006, the woman was returning home from work and passed by the road outside the D-5 residence of Pandher. Koli after killing her, beheaded her and threw the skull behind the house, which was recovered by the CBI.

The DNA of the skull matched with the parents of the deceased. Her clothes, which were recovered from Koli, were identified by the parents. Pandher was involved in the conspiracy of the crime, the court ruled.

Defence lawyer Devraj Singh contradicted the prosecution's argument and said that on the date of crime Pandher was not present at the crime spot. He said that it has been proved that on that date of the crime, Pandher was in Dehradun. However, after taking stock of arguments from both sides the court held them guilty.
 

Special Judge Pawan Kumar Tripathi gave the ruling after finding them guilty of rape, murder, abduction and criminal conspiracy over the killing of a 20-year-old woman.

The gruesome cases came to light in 2006 when the police discovered the skulls and bones of 16 persons, mostly children, from near Pandher's house in the Noida village of Nithari.