Panipat psycho-killer: What was her modus operandi?

The killing of four children — three minor girls and a boy — by a woman described as a psycho-killer has shaken the region. She allegedly drowned all four victims. The woman was arrested by the Panipat police for the murder of six-year-old Vidhi in Naultha village. After her arrest, she disclosed her involvement in three additional child murders, including that of her own son.

According to police, she killed all four children for her own satisfaction, following the same modus operandi each time. The accused, identified as 32-year-old Poonam of Sewah village in Panipat, married Navin of Bhawar village in Gohana in May 2019. She is a postgraduate in Political Science and holds a Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree.

How did the woman psycho-killer get trapped in the police net?

A six-year-old girl, Vidhi, daughter of Sandeep of Bhawar village in Gohana, Sonepat, was found dead in a water tub in a store room on the first floor of a house in Naultha village, where she and her family had come to attend a wedding on December 1. Following the incident, Superintendent of Police (SP) Bhupender Singh sent a team led by DSP (Crime Against Women) Naveen Sandhu, the SHO of Israna and forensic expert Dr Neelam Arya to investigate.Preliminary findings indicated it was a case of murder. The police team reviewed all video footage from the wedding function and questioned all possible suspects. After cross-checking the evidence and behaviour of those present, they identified and arrested the accused, Poonam.

What did the woman psycho-killer disclose during

the investigation?

During questioning, Poonam initially attempted to mislead investigators. However, the evidence gathered and the circumstances of the case continued to point towards her involvement in Vidhi’s death. Under sustained interrogation, she eventually confessed to murdering Vidhi by drowning her in the water tub.

She admitted to killing three additional children — including her own son — by drowning them in water tanks. She said she had murdered two children in Bhawar village in January 2023: nine-year-old Ishika, daughter of her sister-in-law, and her own three-year-old son, Shubham. She also confessed to murdering a six-year-old girl, Jia, daughter of her cousin, in Sewah village in August 2025.

SP Bhupender Singh described her as a psycho-killer, noting her admission that she felt jealous of “beautiful girls” and experienced a sense of satisfaction after killing them.

How many cases were registered against the accused

psycho-killer?

Following her confession, three cases were registered against Poonam. Two murder cases were filed in Panipat — one at Israna police station for Vidhi’s murder, and another at the Sector-29 Industrial Area police station for allegedly murdering Jia in Sewah village. In addition, Baroda police in Gohana registered a case for the double murder of Ishika and Shubham in Bhawar village in January 2023, based on the complaint of Poonam’s husband, Navin.

What was the modus operandi the accused psycho-killer adopted?

According to police, Poonam planned each killing meticulously, making her appear trustworthy to the children before murdering them. Investigations revealed a consistent pattern: she befriended the children closely beforehand, killed all four by drowning them in water and committed all the murders within house premises rather than outside.

However, a key error during Vidhi’s murder helped expose her. Police said the locked room from the outside and the placement of the water tub in the store room were major mistakes that raised suspicion. Her unusual body language and behaviour also contributed to her being identified as the culprit. In the earlier three murders, she had managed to escape suspicion.

Poonam has since been produced in court and remanded to judicial custody.

What next?

Police have registered three cases and begun efforts to gather evidence. However, collecting proof in two of the cases — the double murder registered at the Baroda police station in Gohana and the murder of Jia registered in Sector-29 Industrial Area in Panipat — is expected to be challenging. SP Bhupender Singh has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by a DSP-level officer, tasked with collecting all possible evidence against Poonam.

Baroda police will take her on production warrant for questioning in the Ishika–Shubham double murder case, while Panipat police will also take her on production warrant for inquiries related to Jia’s murder.