Poonam – the Haryana woman accused of killing four children, including her son – first tried to commit murder in 2021. The chosen victim was her niece, Vidhi, then just two-years-old.
Vidhi would survive that attack – her aunt poured a large kettle of boiling tea on her face, a horrific incident her father tried to convince himself was an accident – but not the second one on Monday.
On Monday Poonam allegedly drowned the six-year-old girl, dressed in her finest for a family function, in a tub of water, and left the body to be found by the child's grandmother.
Over the past four years Poonam allegedly killed three other children, including her four-year-old son. Three of the four children were young girls, prompting police to speculate about a 'beauty complex', i.e., Poonam killed the girls because they were 'more beautiful' than her.
Why she killed her son is unclear.
Police believe Shubham – killed in 2023, the second of her four victims – was meant to be a macabre red herring, a ruse to convince those suspicious of Poonam after her first murder.
The first was Ishika, the nine-year-old child of her sister-in-law in 2023.
The third was eight-year-old Jia, again, cops believe, because she was 'prettier'.
The fourth was Vidhi.
Poonam was arrested this week.
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Police sources told NDTV she then confessed to the murders.
Details about the three earlier murders have not been released, but Poonam told the cops she killed Vidhi in the storeroom of a relative's house, at which the extended family had gathered to celebrate a wedding. She killed the child, she claimed, by gaining her confidence, persuading her to stand in a tub of water, and then forcing her head under till the kicking stopped.
NDTV spoke to Sandeep, Vidhi's father, who demanded she be sentenced to death for her crimes. "I had my doubts about her… but my family always objected to my opinions," he said.
"Poonam had a beauty complex and, because she was jealous, she killed my daughter. She should be given the death penalty. We don't know how many kids would have died (if she had not been caught). Now, if she gets the chance, she might attack my son as well," he cried.
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