What began as a joyous wedding celebration in a Haryana village ended in a horrifying discovery that led police to a serial child killer. The arrest of a 34-year-old mother has exposed a chilling two-year spree of murders, all involving young children drowned in plastic tubs or water tanks.
The Wedding Night Tragedy
In Naultha village, near Panipat, the festive chaos of a wedding on December 1 masked a sinister act. Amid the blaring band music and bustling relatives, six-year-old Vidhi went missing. Her family's frantic search ended around 2 AM when her grandmother found a first-floor storeroom locked from the outside.
Upon opening it, she discovered the unthinkable: Vidhi was lying motionless, face down in a plastic tub full of water. The child was rushed to Israna Medical College but was declared dead. While the family initially feared a tragic accident, police quickly sensed foul play.
A Pattern of Calculated Murders Emerges
Investigators from Panipat, led by SP Bhupendra Singh, began questioning wedding guests. Inconsistencies in the statement given by the victim's aunt, Poonam, raised red flags. Under sustained interrogation, the farmer's wife from Bhavar village in Sonipat broke down and confessed—not only to killing Vidhi but to three other murders.
Her motive, as per her police statement, was disturbingly simple: an urge to harm children she believed were "more attractive than her own." Her killing method was consistently brutal yet stealthy: drowning.
Police have outlined the sequence of her crimes:
- January 2023: Poonam drowned her sister-in-law's nine-year-old daughter, Ishika, in a water tank at their Bhavar home.
- Later in 2023: She killed her own three-year-old son, Shubham, fearing he had witnessed Ishika's murder. Both deaths were accepted as accidents by the family.
- August 2025: She murdered her cousin's six-year-old daughter, Jiya, by drowning her in a tub at her maternal home in Siwah village.
- December 1, 2025: She lured Vidhi at the wedding, asked her to fill a tub and carry it to a storeroom, drowned her, locked the door, and calmly rejoined the festivities.
Investigation and Aftermath
The case was initially registered based on a complaint by Vidhi's grandfather, Pal Singh. A forensic examination of the storeroom and a report from a board of doctors at Civil Hospital confirmed suspicions of homicide, leading to the breakthrough.
Poonam, who is also the mother of a four-year-old boy, was arrested on Tuesday. Her confession has sent shockwaves through the interconnected villages of Sonipat and Panipat, where the families of the victims had mourned what they thought were heartbreaking accidents.
The police investigation revealed a predator who moved silently within her own family and community, exploiting trust and the commonplace nature of water storage containers to execute her crimes and evade detection for years.
