Surendra Koli died from asphyxia due to hanging: Autopsy confirms suicide
The post-mortem report of the Nithari case accused Surendra Koli has confirmed that he died due to asphyxia caused by hanging. A copy of the post-mortem report is with India Today.
A copy of the post-mortem report accessed by India Today states, “In our opinion, the cause of death is asphyxia due to ante-mortem hanging.”
Surendra Koli, the main accused in the 2006 Nithari serial killings, was cremated in Haridwar on Saturday in the presence of his family members, police said. His body was handed over to the family after a post-mortem examination, and the last rites were performed at the Kharkhari cremation ground.
Koli, who was in his early 50s, was found dead on September 18 at a tea stall he had been running in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar since his acquittal. Police said he was found hanging and added that further investigation is underway.The Supreme Court had acquitted Koli last year while he was on death row in connection with the infamous 2006 Nithari serial killings in Noida. His acquittal came in November 2025 and marked the end of the legal cases against him related to the killings.Koli and his employer from the 2000s, Moninder Singh Pandher, faced allegations of raping and murdering children in a number of cases. Courts initially convicted the two in some of the cases and sentenced them to death. The Supreme Court later acquitted both men in all of them.The November 2025 verdict was significant because it involved the 13th and final case against Koli. He had already been acquitted in 12 other cases. The latest acquittal left him free from the cases related to the killings.In its order, the Supreme Court said the circumstantial evidence against Koli lacked forensic support. It also pointed to serious lapses in the investigation, including the failure to investigate leads related to the alleged organ trade.HOW THE NITHARI KILLINGS CAME TO LIGHTThe 2006 Nithari killings grabbed national and international headlines after investigators discovered skeletons in a drain behind Pandher’s house in Noida’s Nithari village.The killings came to light in December 2006 after authorities found bones and skulls of children, along with clothes and slippers, in the drain behind Pandher’s house. At least 19 children were confirmed dead.Pandher’s residence, bungalow D-5 in Sector 31, Noida, subsequently became known as the “House of Horrors”.Police arrested Pandher and Koli shortly after the discoveries. Koli worked as domestic help at Pandher’s house.The Central Bureau of Investigation, which took over the case, filed multiple cases against Koli on charges including murder, abduction, rape and destruction of evidence. The agency charged Pandher in a case related to immoral trafficking.Between 2009 and 2017, courts convicted Koli in 12 cases involving the rape and murder of children and sentenced him to death.Koli came very close to being executed in 2007. However, the then Chief Justice of India paused his death sentence after a last-minute petition, giving him a second chance at life.With the acquittal of Koli and Pandher in the cases against them, the 2006 Nithari killings remain one of India’s biggest unsolved murder cases. - EndsPublished By: sharangee Published On: Sep 23, 2026 12:26 IST
