HISAR/PANIPAT: A day after the spine-chilling revelation by police that a woman killed four children, including her son, her family and the kin of the slain children are finding it difficult to accept that a mother could be so cold-blooded and brutal.They seek to believe occult practices are to blame, more than the person, but police reject the claim, saying accused Poonam displays psychopathic tendencies and has shown no remorse for killing the children. According to police, the accused, a 32-year-old, said that she had the urge to kill any child who was more beautiful than her own kids. She killed her three-year-old son, Shubham — her first born — because she was afraid he had witnessed one of the murders.
The modus operandi was the same — they were all drowned in tubs or drums of water. In fact, Poonam had coaxed her fourth victim, her six-year-old niece Vidhi, to bring a tub of water and drowned her in it, say police.Poonam has been remanded in jail but police may yet seek her custody as a second FIR was filed on Thursday.Poonam’s mother, Sunita, is in shock — revolted by the killings. “My daughter showed no signs of illness before marriage and was considered normal,” she said, adding that the family had taken her to a tantrik on the “advice of her in-laws but never understood the reason”.Sunita said Poonam must face punishment for the murders. “I wish I had known about her condition earlier, but she always behaved normally when she visited us,” Sunita said.Family Alleges Killings Linked to EkadashiPoonam’s relatives — from her maternal and in-laws’ sides — suspect a tantric angle.Even Deepak, father of one of the murdered girls, Jiya, felt it’s significant that all the children were murdered on Ekadashi (11th day of the lunar cycle, when the moon may look three-quarters bright or dark) and that they were all killed by drowning.A resident of Siwah village in Panipat district, Deepak said Jiya’s death on Aug 19, 2025 — initially believed to be accidental — has now been confirmed by police as murder. It was an Ekadashi. So was the Dec 1 murder of six-year-old Vidhi in Naultha village. Poonam had earlier drowned her niece Ishika and her son Shubham on Jan 2, 2023 — again an Ekadashi.Deepak alleged that occult practices may have influenced Poonam, though he acknowledged the law does not recognise such notions. He said Poonam’s in-laws had long believed she was troubled by spirits, leading them to take her to a tantrik in Kairana, Uttar Pradesh. There were also claims that Poonam at times spoke in a strange voice, allegedly under the influence of a “spirit”.Police Reject Tantrik TheoryPanipat police have dismissed any occult motive, saying that there is no evidence to support this claim. Poonam suffers from a mental illness.On the alleged tantric angle, Panipat SP Bhupendra Singh said Poonam was questioned thoroughly, but “nothing substantial” emerged. He said Poonam had been diagnosed with a mental disorder and was under medication, though villagers often interpreted her condition as spirit possession.SP Singh said a second FIR has been registered against Poonam based on Deepak’s complaint on Jiya’s death. A report has been forwarded to Sonipat police regarding the 2023 murder in Bhavar village.Psychiatrist: Mental Disorder Likely CauseHisar-based senior psychiatrist Dr. Narendra Gupta attributed such incidents to severe mental disorders caused by hormonal imbalances, which can impair judgment. He said the case appears highly abnormal and that he has not encountered a similar pattern in his 25 years of practice.Gupta warned that such individuals are difficult to identify and urged families to remain alert and seek timely medical intervention. He added that children are more vulnerable to harm from known persons than outsiders.
