Surendra Koli, who spent nearly two decades on death row before being acquitted by the Allahabad High Court in the sensational 2006 Nithari serial killings, was cremated at Haridwar’s Karkari Ghat on Sunday. Koli passed away from chronic pulmonary complications at a regional charitable hospital ten months after walking out of prison custody a free man.
Family members and legal counsel performed the last rites in the holy city, recalling the profound psychological and physical toll of eighteen years spent in solitary confinement facing imminent capital execution. In late 2023, high court judges overturned Koli’s convictions, citing flawed police investigations, coerced confessions, and egregious lapses by prosecution agencies in handling forensic evidence.
Legal rights advocates highlighted Koli’s prolonged imprisonment as a sobering testament to systemic procedural failures within India’s criminal justice system, where marginalized defendants spend decades behind bars awaiting appellate exoneration. Human rights lawyers renewed appeals for statutory compensation frameworks for citizens wrongfully incarcerated in botched criminal investigations.
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Sources:
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/today-india-breaking-news-live-updates-live-news-updates-mumbai-electrocution-kpsc-surendra-koli-iit-bombay-20-september-2026-10885706/