Naman Shrestha
Netflix’s ‘Sector 36’ focuses on the story of various children’s disappearance from a Noida village in Sector 36. In order to get to the bottom of the case, a competent cop, not knowing he would be up against a serial killer, takes control of the investigation and discovers some chilling truths about it. Under the direction of Aditya Nimbalkar, the Indian crime thriller movie takes inspiration from the Nithari killings of 2005 and 2006 that took place in Noida, India. The two people at the heart of the brutal murders were Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic worker, Surinder Koli.
Surinder Koli’s Confession Kickstarted the Investigation of the Nithari Killings
Employed as a domestic worker by Moninder Singh Pandher at his Noida house, Surinder Koli, under the alias Satish, was reported to be in the middle of the disappearance and murder cases of children and young women in the Nithari Village of Noida. The cases first surfaced in 2006 when the police combed Moninder’s property after some villagers and loved ones of the victims, pointed their suspicions towards Surinder, and he confessed to the rape and murder of several victims. Upon the discovery of the human remains of about 16 individuals, mostly children, near the property and in a nearby drain, Surinder and his employer, Moninder, were taken into police custody in late December 2006.
At the time, it was alleged that Surinder used to lure children into Moninder’s house by offering them chocolates and sweets before killing them and then sexually assaulting them. Given the gravity of the case, the CBI took over the investigation and discovered more human remains around the Noida residence. Apart from confessing to killing and sexually assaulting six children and a 20-year-old woman named Payal, he also reportedly admitted to cannibalism and necrophilia during the investigation. It was also alleged that Surinder murdered numerous young women by beheading them before disposing of them in the backyard of the property. After registering multiple cases of rape and murder against him, Surinder was charged with abduction, destruction of evidence, rape, and murder.
Surinder Koli Received Multiple Death Sentences Before the Acquittal
During his trial, Surinder Koli recanted his confession and claimed that it was coerced and beaten out of him by the authorities. In spite of his claims of innocence, on February 12, 2009, he was found guilty of the murder of a 14-year-old girl named Rimpa Haldar and sentenced to death the following day for the same. In the following years, he was convicted of many more murders. In May 2010, he received his second death sentence after being convicted of killing Arti Prasad in October 2006. In the same year, he was found guilty of murdering Rachna Lal and Deepali Sarkar in September and December 2010, respectively, and was sentenced to death for both crimes.
Surinder received his fifth death sentence after he was proven guilty of the June 2005 murder of Chhoti Kavita in December 2012. A couple of years later, in July 2014, he filed a mercy petition to get his multiple death sentences reduced, only to be denied by the then-President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. Scheduled to be hanged on September 12, 2014, he was transferred to Meerut Jail in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on the evening of September 4 due to the lack of hanging facilities at Dasna Jail in Ghaziabad, where he was held. However, due to some reason, his hanging was halted after a midnight hearing, and his death sentence was converted to life imprisonment by the Allahabad High Court.
On July 24, 2017, Surinder received yet another death sentence in connection to the killing of a 20-year-old woman named Pinki Sarkar, making his tally to a dozen. However, Surinder Koli and Moninder Singh Pandher filed appeals against their convictions and death sentences. On October 16, 2023, they were acquitted of all the charges against them related to the case by the High Court due to a lack of incriminating evidence. While the latter was released, Surinder remained behind bars as he was serving a sentence for the rape and murder case of a 14-year-old girl. As per reports, he also has other cases against him. As per an October 2023 report, he was incarcerated at the Dasna Jail, a high-security prison in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, India.
Read More: Is Sector 36 a True Story? Is Prem Singh Based on a Real Serial Killer?
