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Haryana: Woman arrested for allegedly killing four children, including own son, out of 'jealousy'

The police on Wednesday arrested a middle-aged woman for allegedly murdering four children, including three girls and her own son in Haryana's Panipat. According to multiple media reports citing the police, the woman allegedly murdered the girls, including her niece, out of jealousy as she thought the children were prettier than her. The woman, identified as Poonam, also killed her son to avoid suspicion of killing the girls. The investigation into the killings began after the recent death of Poonam's niece, six-year-old Vidhi, who lived in Sonipat and had come to Naultha village in Panipat's Israna area to attend a relative's wedding with her family. Vidhi was found dead with her head submerged in a water tub and her feet on the ground in the storeroom of her relative's house. Even though the death was earlier presumed to be accidental, circumstances raised some suspicions. Vidhi's father later lodged a police complaint, alleging that the child was murdered, leading to the probe. During questioning, Poonam confessed to killing three more children, including her son. According to police, Poonam had a pattern of killing children by drowning them. She targeted young, pretty girls as her motive was driven by jealousy and resentment and an obsession with looking beautiful. According to police, in August this year, Poonam murdered a girl in Siwah village because she believed the child looked prettier than her. In 2023, Poonam had killed her sister-in-law's daughter. The same year, she drowned her son just to avoid suspicion.