A court in India has told police to charge a businessman with rape and murder nine months after the body parts of almost 20 people, mainly children, were found at his home, reports said yesterday.
Police had already charged a domestic servant at the house in an affluent suburb of the capital New Delhi, initially alleging that businessman Moninder Singh Pandher was "not aware of the killings."
PREVIOUS CHARGES
Pandher has so far only been charged with concealing evidence and using prostitutes, but a special court hearing the case now says he should also face charges for the gruesome murders, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
"There is an adequate prima facie case to add the charges of rape and murder against Pandher," judge Rama Jain said.
RIOTS
The killings came to light in December and sparked riots in Noida, a suburb of New Delhi where upmarket residences have sprung up next to poor villages like Nithari, where most of the victims came from.
Dozens of bags containing human remains, remnants of clothing and bones were dug up by local police from a drain next to Pandher's home.
The federal Central Bureau of Investigation took over the case following a nationwide uproar over police incompetence, with at least one cop charged for accepting bribes and suppressing evidence and several others suspended.
FORTY MISSING
Nithari residents say 40 people, mostly children, have gone missing since 2004, and have accused police of ignoring their complaints because they were poor.
Some of the victims were as young as three and police believe most of the murder victims were raped or sexually assaulted.
The accused servant, Surender Koli, has allegedly confessed to cannibalism and necrophilia.
The latest court order came after the father of one victim petitioned for Pandher to also be charged.
ALLEGED CONFESSION
Nand Lal, a lawyer who is representing the father of a 26-year-old girl whose remains were among those found, said Pandher had admitted to the killings when interrogated by police.
Lal said he was present at the questioning and Pandher's confession led to the discovery of a saw used to dismember the bodies.
But the investigating agency has consistently said Pandher was traveling or not at home when most of the murders took place.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
RSS