DEHRADUN: As news of the Supreme Court's acquittal of Surinder Koli, the main convict in the horrific 2006 Nithari serial killings, spread through his native village in Uttarakhand, no family members remain to celebrate. The infamous case, which shook the nation, has left a permanent scar on Mangrukhal village in Almora district.

Koli, originally from the remote village, worked as a domestic help for businessman Moninder Singh Pandher in Noida’s Sector-31 when the gruesome discovery of skeletal remains of at least eight children was made in a drain behind the house on December 29, 2006. The subsequent excavation revealed remains belonging to poor children and young women who had gone missing from the area.

While Koli is legally free, his family has been decimated by the infamy. His mother Kunti Devi passed away three years ago, still waiting for her son to return, while his wife Shanti Devi fled the village around a decade ago with their two children, choosing anonymity over social ostracism.

"The disgrace was too much to bear," a local source commented on the family's plight. "When Surinder went to jail, his daughter was young, and his wife was pregnant with their son. They faced constant humiliation."