CHANDIGARH: The Haryana Police on Wednesday arrested a woman in her mid-thirties for allegedly murdering four children, including three girls and her own son in Panipat.
The investigation into the killings began after the recent death of six-year-old Vidhi, who was found dead on Monday with her head submerged in a water tub and her feet on the ground in the storeroom of her relative's house.
The accused, identified as Poonam, had earlier killed three children, including her own son in 2023 in the same way as her niece by drowning, the police said. She allegedly murdered the girls "out of jealousy" as she thought the children were prettier than her. Further, Poonam killed her son to allegedly avoid suspicion of killing the girls.
In the recent incident, Poonam's niece, six-year-old Vidhi, who lived in Sonipat, had come to Naultha village with her grandparents, parents and 10-month old brother to attend a wedding.
The incident occurred when the wedding procession arrived in Naultha and the family left with it. Soon, Vidhi's father received a phone call informing him that she was missing, and the family began searching for her.
Later, they opened a storeroom on the first floor of their relative's house and found that the child was reportedly drowned in a tub. Even though the death was earlier presumed to be accidental, circumstances raised some suspicions as the room was locked from outside. The case was solved within 36 hours of the incident.
Upon questioning, the accused reportedly confessed to killing four children, three of whom were girls related to her and one her own son.
A police official said that the accused is reported to have killed her sister-in-law’s daughter in Bohad village of Sonipat in 2023 and later drowned her own son to avoid attracting suspicion. Subsequent murders occurred at her maternal home. In August this year, Poonam murdered another girl in Siwah village because the child looked 'prettier' than her.
In each case, the death took place in a similar manner, with the children found drowned in shallow water. She targeted girls she perceived as more beautiful than herself and after committing the crimes, the woman would celebrate.
Calling her a 'psycho killer', Bhupendra Singh, Superintendent of Police of Panipat, said, "As the circumstances were suspicious, a case of murder was registered after the body was sent for post-mortem examination. The family was trying to trace the missing girl as the weeding procession had left and she was not to be found. They called to find out if she might have gone with the wedding party. The child was found dead in the room and we have arrested the aunt of the deceased. She took her to the room and drowned her in the tub."
He added, "During her questioning, the accused told us that she did not like pretty children and had murdered three other children earlier, two of them in Bhawar in Panipat where she had got married as she drowned them in the water tank/tub. But there is no First Information Report (FIR) registered in those cases. We will be sending a detailed report in this regard to the concerned district police. In August this year, she had killed another girl. During investigation it was revealed that she use to target and kill pretty girls in her family only."