From the Associated Press via Google:
A court sentenced an Indian man and his servant to death Friday for the rape and murder of a teenage girl, news reports said, in a case linked to the deaths of 18 other people whose bodies were found in a neighborhood storm drain.
Judge Rama Jain said the crime fell in the “rarest of rare” category deserving capital punishment, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
The two men — businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his servant, Surender Koli — were found guilty Thursday of murder, rape, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence in connection with the 14-year-old girl’s death. The men can appeal to a higher court.
The girl’s dismembered remains were among those of 19 women and children found in a storm drain next to Pandher’s house. The two defendants also face criminal charges in the other 18 deaths, PTI reported.
Pandher’s son, Karan Pandher, told reporters outside the court that his father was innocent and accused the media of “throwing an innocent man to the dogs and letting him die.”
The killings in a posh New Delhi suburb prompted widespread outrage in India after relatives of the victims said police ignored their complaints that dozens of people had disappeared over two years.
News of the killings emerged in 2006, and police quickly took credit for nabbing the suspects. But residents in the area said police had only started investigating after human remains were spotted in the drains and the smell became overpowering.
Given the overpopulation of India, I’m surprised we don’t read more about this type of thing. A true serial murderer would thrive in such an environment where poor people are teeming from every shanty and local authorities have no regard for them as human beings. At least they caught this one.
Technorati Tags: Accomplices, Serial Killings
