'We've lost all hope': Nithari families react to SC remarks

A sense of helplessness and resignation has settled once again over Nithari village in Noida.

- Arun Singh

Nearly two decades after the grisly murders of children shocked the nation, families of the victims say they have lost faith in justice - as the Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on convict Surendra Koli and observed that it would be a "travesty of justice" to uphold his conviction, suggesting an imminent acquittal in the final pending case.

"We've lost all hope in the justice of the Nithari killings," said a 63-year-old father whose 10-year-old daughter's remains were among those recovered from the now-infamous D-5 bungalow in Sector 31, owned by businessman Moninder Singh Pandher.

"My daughter went missing while returning from school in 2006. Since then, I fought for justice, selling my properties to pursue the case. But my wife and I have now lost all faith. Only God can punish the killers of my child," he said. "If Koli and Pandher are not involved, then who killed the children?"