15 skulls of children, women found at trader's house in India
NOIDA, India - An Indian businessman and his domestic servant confessed to sexually assaulting and killing at least 15 impoverished children and women during the past two years, police said Saturday.
Angry parents said they had complained about the businessman to authorities for months.
Police recovered 15 skulls from the backyard of the man's in Noida, a posh township east of New Delhi, as well as parts and bones from an undetermined number of bodies. The search was continuing Saturday.
Noida police chief R.K.S. Rathore said Mohinder Singh Pandher, the businessman who owned the house, and his servant, referred to only as Satish, had confessed to sexually abusing and killing at least 10 children and five women.
The two men were later taken to a local court, where the judge remanded them for two more days in police custody. Police accused the men of rape, murder and kidnapping, Rathore said.
Pandher was fond of "illegal relations," Rathore said, referring to sex with children and prostitutes.
Satish lured children to the house with the promise of chocolates and toys, Rathore said. Women were offered jobs.
Earlier, a police officer told The Associated Press that Satish confessed to beheading the victims after they were sexually assaulted. He then dumped their body parts either in the backyard or into a sewage drain in front of it, said the officer, who did not want to be named because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.
Plastic bags containing bones, bracelets and clothes were discovered as police dug up the drain on Saturday.
The recovery heightened fears that the accused could have killed more children, said Ramesh Bharatiya, a police officer on the scene. Local residents said 38 children had disappeared in recent years from the neighborhood around the house.
Police said Satish, who lived with Pandher, was traced after he started using a missing girl's cell phone. When they arrived at Pandher's home they were tipped off by the smell of decomposing corpses.
Families of the missing children, however, said they forced police to act after they found body parts and clothes flowing in the drain in front of the house about a month ago.
"We told police that we suspected this man, but they repeatedly ignored our complaints," said Kuldeep Kumar, whose 4-year-old nephew has been missing since Feb. 23.
Most of the missing children belonged to impoverished families, living in a nearby slum.
"We are poor people. We can't go to the police station every day," Kumar said.
Police denied inaction.
"We have been investigating all the cases," said Ramesh Bharatiya, a local police officer. "We sent teams to other cities, suspecting the girls were kidnapped and pushed into sex trade. But we never imagined this." - AP
Angry parents said they had complained about the businessman to authorities for months.
Police recovered 15 skulls from the backyard of the man's in Noida, a posh township east of New Delhi, as well as parts and bones from an undetermined number of bodies. The search was continuing Saturday.
Noida police chief R.K.S. Rathore said Mohinder Singh Pandher, the businessman who owned the house, and his servant, referred to only as Satish, had confessed to sexually abusing and killing at least 10 children and five women.
The two men were later taken to a local court, where the judge remanded them for two more days in police custody. Police accused the men of rape, murder and kidnapping, Rathore said.
Pandher was fond of "illegal relations," Rathore said, referring to sex with children and prostitutes.
Satish lured children to the house with the promise of chocolates and toys, Rathore said. Women were offered jobs.
Earlier, a police officer told The Associated Press that Satish confessed to beheading the victims after they were sexually assaulted. He then dumped their body parts either in the backyard or into a sewage drain in front of it, said the officer, who did not want to be named because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.
Plastic bags containing bones, bracelets and clothes were discovered as police dug up the drain on Saturday.
The recovery heightened fears that the accused could have killed more children, said Ramesh Bharatiya, a police officer on the scene. Local residents said 38 children had disappeared in recent years from the neighborhood around the house.
Police said Satish, who lived with Pandher, was traced after he started using a missing girl's cell phone. When they arrived at Pandher's home they were tipped off by the smell of decomposing corpses.
Families of the missing children, however, said they forced police to act after they found body parts and clothes flowing in the drain in front of the house about a month ago.
"We told police that we suspected this man, but they repeatedly ignored our complaints," said Kuldeep Kumar, whose 4-year-old nephew has been missing since Feb. 23.
Most of the missing children belonged to impoverished families, living in a nearby slum.
"We are poor people. We can't go to the police station every day," Kumar said.
Police denied inaction.
"We have been investigating all the cases," said Ramesh Bharatiya, a local police officer. "We sent teams to other cities, suspecting the girls were kidnapped and pushed into sex trade. But we never imagined this." - AP
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