A woman was arrested in Haryana’s Panipat district for allegedly killing a six-year-old girl during wedding festivities in the family, police said on Wednesday. The accused, identified as Poonam, a resident of Siwah village in Panipat and married into Bhawar village in neighbouring Sonipat, was produced before a court and remanded to police custody.
Police said the victim’s father, Sandeep, and the accused’s husband, Naveen, are cousins. The child had gone missing from the celebrations on Monday, triggering a frantic search by family members before a complaint was lodged by the victim’s grandfather.
Child Followed to Terrace, Drowned in Water Tub: Police
According to the police complaint, wedding functions were held in the family between November 30 and December 1, and several guests, including the accused, were present. Superintendent of Police Bhupender Singh said the crime took place on December 1 when most guests had stepped out of the house.
Investigators said Poonam noticed the six-year-old climbing the stairs and followed her to the terrace. “She spoke to the child, placed her in a plastic tub filled with water outside a storeroom, drowned her, bolted the door from outside and returned downstairs,” police said.
Accused Confesses to Killing Three Other Children
During the investigation, police discovered that the victim’s paternal aunt was behind the murder. SP Singh said Poonam confessed during interrogation, claiming she was “irritated by beautiful girls”.
The accused further admitted to killing three children earlier, including her own son. Police said she told investigators that in January 2023, she drowned her three-year-old son and her sister-in-law’s nine-year-old daughter in a water tank at her home in Bhawar village. Investigators believe she killed her own son to avoid suspicion in the nine-year-old’s death.
Poonam also confessed to murdering her cousin’s six-year-old daughter in August this year at her parents’ house in Siwah village. “In all previous cases, the family believed the deaths were accidental and carried out the last rites,” SP Singh said, adding that the accused carried out the killings over time without raising suspicion.
Police said further investigation is underway to verify the confessions and reconstruct the sequence of events in all four cases.
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