NEW DELHI: What were once seen as tragic household accidents in Panipat and Sonipat have now unravelled into one of Haryana’s most chilling crime cases in recent years.
Police say four children, three young girls and a toddler boy, were killed over a two-year period, allegedly by 32-year-old Poonam, who is accused of targeting youngsters she believed were “more beautiful” than others.
Investigators say jealousy, resentment and a deeply distorted sense of insecurity lay at the heart of the violence.
Accused shows no remorse, admits jealousy triggered the murders
Panipat police claim that during questioning, Poonam remained disturbingly calm and expressed no regret.
Officers say she admitted she “could not stand pretty children”, especially girls.
The crime trail, however, shocked investigators further: among the four victims was her own three-year-old son, Shubham, who died in 2023.
According to police, Poonam told interrogators she killed her son to ensure that no one in the family suspected her when another child died around the same time.
Family alleges she claimed to be possessed, spoke in a different voice
As the investigation expanded, a parallel narrative emerged from her in-laws in Sonipat.
They alleged that Poonam often claimed that a young man’s spirit resided inside her and that she would sometimes talk in an altered voice, saying she had “already killed three children”.
Police have also uncovered a link to a tantric in Kairana, Uttar Pradesh. The nature of this contact is now under scrutiny as officers attempt to piece together whether it had any role in shaping her behaviour.
Two child deaths in 2023 that raised no suspicion
Panipat SP Bhupender Singh said the first two killings occurred in 2023 at the family’s ancestral home in Bhawad. At the time, both were treated as accidents.
The victims were:
Shubham, her three-year-old son
Ishika, her sister-in-law’s nine-year-old daughter.
Investigators now say both children were drowned in a water tank inside the house.
Poonam allegedly told police she held them underwater until she was certain they had stopped breathing.
The family, unaware of any foul play, performed their funerals as accidental deaths.
Third killing in August 2025 during a visit to her maternal home
The cycle resurfaced two years later. In August 2025, while visiting her maternal home in Sivaah village, six-year-old Jia, her cousin’s daughter, was found dead in another water tank.
This death too was passed off as a mishap. Some relatives reportedly grew suspicious, but the matter never moved formally.
Fourth murder at a wedding finally exposes the pattern
The case broke open on Dec 1, 2025, when the fourth child, six-year-old Vidhi, was found dead during a wedding in Noultha village.
With most guests busy with rituals, Poonam allegedly followed the child upstairs, drowned her in a plastic tub kept on the terrace, locked the room from outside and rejoined the gathering.
The family began searching for Vidhi only when her grandmother, Ommvati, called her for the shagun ceremony.
Hours later, the child’s body was discovered in a locked storeroom. Her head was submerged in the tub while her feet still touched the ground.
A crucial detail emerged when a family member pointed out that the tub was kept in the bathroom, not the storeroom.
How the Haryana police cracked the case
Investigators questioned every attendee separately. Officers say Poonam initially stuck to her version, even crafting explanations for her wet clothes.
But the moment police announced scientific tests for all, she reportedly panicked. Under sustained interrogation, she broke down and confessed to all four killings.
Following the revelation, Jia’s father, Deepak, filed a fresh murder complaint at Panipat’s Sector 29 Industrial Police Station, reopening the 2025 case.
A mind shaped by insecurity, resentment and obsessive jealousy
During questioning, Poonam allegedly said that after her son’s birth, relatives often compared him unfavourably to other children in the household.
Police say this seeded a sense of inferiority that grew into deep resentment and gradually turned into violent jealousy towards “beautiful children”.
More children were on her target list
Investigators say Poonam admitted she had planned to kill two more children in the extended family, including her own 18-month-old son.
She has been remanded to jail, and police in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are now coordinating to tie together all four cases and investigate the tantric connection that surfaced during the probe. - The Statesman/ANN
