Ghaziabad, Dec 25 (IANS): Domestic help Surendra Koli was Monday given the death penalty by a court here for murder and rape of a five-year-old girl in the 2005-06 serial killings of women and kids in Noida's Nithari. This is his fifth conviction.

Central Bureau of Investigation's Special Judge S. Lal pronounced the judgment against Koli, the lone accused, for kidnap, rape and murder and causing disappearance of evidence.

In a 75-page judgment, the court convicted Koli for the incident involving the five-year-old girl, identified as Kavita in the documents to hide her identity.

Of the 19 Nithari cases of abduction, rape and murder, the CBI filed chargesheets in 16 cases, which shocked the nation with the brutality and hints of cannibalism.

CBI counsel Jai Prakash Sharma said Kavita's case was the fifth out of the 16 cases in which the formal set of charges were filed.

In four earlier cases, Koli was awarded capital punishment. His employer and businessman Maninder Singh Pandher is a co-accused in six cases.