Haryana woman accused of killing four children out of jealousy over their looks

A wave of shock and horror has swept through Haryana after police uncovered what they describe as a meticulously planned killing spree carried out by a 32-year-old woman over two years.

The accused, identified as Poonam, allegedly drowned four children — including her three-year-old son — in acts investigators believe were motivated by jealousy of their appearance.

Panipat Superintendent of Police Bhupender Singh, briefing reporters, said investigators found a disturbing pattern threaded across the deaths between 2023 and 2025. All four victims were children within her family circle — a niece, a cousin’s daughter, her sister-in-law’s child, and her own son.

“The accused appears to be a psychopath. She believed no child in her family should be more beautiful than her,” Singh stated, calling the case one of the most disturbing his department has encountered.

A calculated pattern disguised as tragedy

The first suspected killing dates back to 2023 in Bhawar village, Sonipat, where Poonam allegedly drowned her sister-in-law’s nine-year-old daughter. To avoid suspicion, police say she soon staged another death — this time her own toddler — to reinforce the appearance of tragic coincidence rather than intent.

The pattern repeated in 2025 when another child, her cousin’s six-year-old daughter, was found drowned in Sewah village. None of the deaths initially triggered criminal suspicion.

That changed this week.

A wedding, a locked bathroom

On December 1, 2025, six-year-old Vidhi, her niece, was found dead during a family wedding in Naulakha village. Her body was discovered inside a small water tub, the bathroom door bolted from the outside.

CCTV footage and contradictions in Poonam's statements triggered police intervention.

During questioning, she reportedly confessed to all four killings.

Sources say she did not break down, panic, or resist.

Instead — she was calm.

‘Disturbingly methodical’

Police and relatives describe Poonam as academically accomplished — an MA in Political Science — yet profoundly detached from remorse.

Investigators say she:

• Gained the trust of children before isolating them
• Used small water bodies — tubs, tanks — to stage accidental drownings
• Maintained composure afterward, sometimes behaving celebratory

At the December wedding, relatives recalled her sitting quietly, detached from festivities — behaviour that now reads as a precursor to violence.

A family shattered

The victims include:

• Her 3-year-old son
• A 9-year-old niece
• A 6-year-old cousin’s daughter
• Another 6-year-old niece

All were children she saw frequently. All trusted her.

Poonam is now in judicial custody as police probe whether her actions stem from severe mental illness, a personality disorder — or a calculated, emotionless motive rooted in vanity and dominance.

For now, the community is left with a haunting question: How did a mother — and trusted family member — turn into a silent predator inside her own home?