Deepak Chaturvedi on interviewing 12 households for Nithari: Reality, Lies & Homicide

Almost twenty years after the Nithari killings first got here to mild, the Supreme Courtroom, on November 11, acquitted Surinder Koli within the ultimate of the 13 instances in opposition to him. In its judgment, the SC famous the investigation lapses and failure to determine guilt past affordable doubt. Shut on the heels of the judgment, Discovery+ dropped the documentary, Nithari: Reality, Lies & Homicide. 

Speaking to mid-day, filmmaker Deepak Chaturvedi says the apex courtroom’s verdict reinforces the considerations he had, as he re-examined the case that grabbed the nation’s consideration in December 2006 when the our bodies of 19 ladies and youngsters have been discovered close to bungalow D5 of Sector 31 in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Whereas the bungalow’s proprietor Moninder Singh Pandher and his house-help Koli have been arrested in December 2006, the previous was acquitted in 2023. 

Surinder Koli

As Chaturvedi started his analysis on the case in 2017, one of many first issues he learn was Koli’s confession assertion. In accordance with reviews, it included admissions of cannibalism and necrophilia. “It’s about an hour-and-a-half lengthy and really disturbing to learn. However past the strains, it’s additionally about [finding] what’s lacking within the doc,” he says. The SC accepted Koli’s declare that the confession had been extracted below stress. 

Because the filmmaker and his 15-member crew delved deeper into the case, the gaps within the investigation started to indicate. Chaturvedi says that the three-part documentary exhibits how the Noida police was stretched skinny. “Lack of assets, understaffing, being overworked, media consideration, and [national] outrage — it was an ideal storm. I don’t assume the cops had the instruments to deal with it. That they had ignored the story for a very long time and never achieved due diligence. There wasn’t even a correct approach of documenting lacking youngsters complaints. Folks [from the Nithari area] didn’t know when to file an FIR, and what quantities to kidnapping.”

Deepak Chaturvedi

Though the case has been coated extensively over the previous 19 years, Chaturvedi asserts key particulars have been left untouched. He spotlights them within the documentary. It additionally contains an interview with co-accused Pandher. “There are telling particulars which have by no means been checked out. As an illustration, the world thinks that the excavation began on the morning of December 29, 2006. However nobody is aware of what occurred the night time earlier than that led to the digging. [Secondly] what was proven as proof, the belongings of a sufferer, didn’t belong to stated sufferer! Thirdly, Surinder Koli and Pandher have been on a watchlist for seven months earlier than December 2006, however nothing incriminating was present in these months by the police. All I’m saying is that there’s a cause why there was an acquittal. A deeper have a look at the system is required.”

Does he agree with the SC judgment? Chaturvedi says, “We’re not aligning with the SC judgment, however [highlighting] the lapses within the case. The documentary and the judgment ask the identical questions. My private view is that much more wanted to be checked out, with a bigger lens, not simply by way of the lens of the investigation. It’s most likely too late now for a much wider scope.”

A nonetheless from the documentary ‘Nithari: Reality, Lies & Homicide’

The decision has come as a blow to the victims’ dad and mom. In its judgment, the SC acknowledged the “immeasurable struggling” of those households. The director reveals that he interviewed 12 households for the docu. “We spent numerous time with the accused, but in addition with the victims’ households. On this case, there are two sides — the defendant’s model and the investigations of these on the victims’ aspect. There are 4 or 5 variations of the identical factor. Investigating every model meant assembly these individuals, getting them to share [their account], after which making an attempt to corroborate it. I met the Pandher household. I didn’t meet Koli; we have been in contact together with his counsel.”

Nov 11, 2025
When the prime accused Surinder Koli was acquitted by the Supreme Courtroom

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Households of victims interviewed for the documentary