A CBI court on Monday convicted businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surender Koli to death in the Nithari serial rape and murder case.
Special Judge Pawan Kumar Tripathi gave the ruling after finding them guilty of rape, murder, abduction and criminal conspiracy over the killing of 20-year-old Pinky Sarkar.
The case, the eighth of the several lodged against them, was registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on December 29, 2006.
Koli and Pandher were present in the court during the sentencing.
Prosecution lawyer J.P. Sharma sought the death sentence and argued that forensic evidence proved that Koli abducted, killed and raped the woman and also tampered with evidence.
On October 5, 2006, Pinky was returning home from work. She took the road outside Pandher's residence.
Koli lured her inside where she was killed and beheaded. Investigators found her skull behind the house.
Defence lawyer Devraj Singh pleaded for minimum punishment as Pandher suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes.
The gruesome cases came to light in 2006 when the police discovered the skulls and bones of 16 persons, mostly children, near Pandher's house in Noida's Nithari village.
Pandher's lawyer Devraj Singh said they would move the higher court against the verdict. He added that Pandher was not named in CBI chargesheet in this murder case because when the incident took place he was not in Noida but had gone to Dehradun.
In all 19 cases were registered in Nithari incident and the duo was named in 16. Three cases could not be taken further for the want of proper evidence. The duo has been convicted in six cases while other cases are still going on.
(With inputs from Ajay Uprety)