Two men who had spent several years on death row in India for the rape and murder of 19 women and children in 2005 have been acquitted by an Indian court.

Surinder Koli and his employer, businessman Moninder Singh Pandher, were convicted in 2009 in a shocking case that gripped the nation.

The case against them began in 2006 when human remains were discovered near their residence in the vicinity of Delhi. On Monday, the Allahabad High Court declared Koli innocent in 12 cases in which he had previously been sentenced to death.

Additionally, Pandher was found not guilty in the two cases brought against him. Their defense attorney informed the media that the acquittals were based on a "lack of evidence," but the full court judgment has not yet been disclosed.

These gruesome murders came to public attention in 2006 when body parts and children's clothing were found in a drain in front of Moninder Singh Pandher's opulent home in Noida, a prosperous suburb of the capital.

At least 19 young women and children had been subjected to rape, murder, and dismemberment. The police initially alleged that the crimes occurred within Pandher's house, where Koli was employed as a servant.

The police claimed that Koli had enticed the children, whose remains were concealed in bags, to their deaths by offering them sweets and chocolate. During the investigation, Koli allegedly confessed to acts of cannibalism and necrophilia, but he later recanted these confessions in court, asserting that they had been extracted through coercion.

India's top investigation agency CBI registered 19 cases against the two men. While Koli was charged with murder, abduction, rape, and destruction of evidence, Pandher was charged with immoral trafficking.

The murders caused national outrage, with many accusing the police of negligence. The media had dubbed it the "house of horrors" because of the shocking nature of the crimes.

Local residents said that police failed to act because many of those reported missing came from poor families. They lived in a nearby slum called Nithari and the case has also been referred to as the "Nithari killings".

Noted