Indian woman Poonam drowns niece, 6, at family wedding because child ‘looked prettier’

A woman is accused of drowning her six-year-old niece during a wedding celebration because the child “looked prettier than her.”

The woman, who goes by Poonam, reportedly drowned her young relative in a tub of water after her family gathered for a ceremony in Panipat, northern India, on Monday.

The girl, named Vidhi, had attended the wedding with her father, mother, 10-month-old brother and her grandmother.

Vidhi’s father is said to have received a phone call during the celebrations, informing him that the girl had gone missing – prompting a family search party.

After an hour, Vidhi’s grandmother, Omwati, tragically found her dead in a nearby storeroom, with her head submerged underwater.

She was rushed to the nearby NC Medical College, where she was later pronounced dead.

Police arrested Poonam following the death, where she then confessed to killing Vidhi, her paternal niece.

According to local media, Poonam told police that “she didn’t want anyone to look more beautiful” than her at the wedding.

Superintendent of Police Bhupender Singh said that according to investigators, the woman committed the crime when all the guests were out of the house.

Poonam allegedly saw the child climbing the stairs before following her to the terrace and making conversation with her.

“After having her placed in a plastic tub filled with water outside the storeroom, she drowned the child in the tub, then bolted the door from the outside, and came down,” Superintendent Singh said.

“During interrogation, the accused woman told the police that she was irritated by beautiful girls.”

Poonan also reportedly confessed to previously murdering another three children, including another niece and her own son, whom she also drowned.

In 2023, the woman allegedly murdered her sister-in-law’s daughter, 9, before then killing her own son to “avoid suspicion.”

In August this year, she allegedly killed a young girl in a nearby town because she was “prettier” than her.

Police revealed that the family previously considered these deaths accidental and that Poonam “committed these crimes one after the other.”