Who was Cyanide Mallika, India’s first convicted female serial killer, presented herself as a devoted pious woman

The world has seen many terrifying serial killers, and India is no exception. One of the most shocking cases is that of KD Kempamma, also known as Cyanide Mallika. She is believed to be India’s first convicted female serial killer. Even today, her name sends chills down people's spines.

Kempamma was a resident of Kaggalipura, a village near Bangalore. She was married to a tailor and ran a chit-finance business. However, financial troubles led to her downfall. Her business failed, her husband left her, and she was thrown out of her family home. By 1998, she was working as a maid and committing small thefts. But her crimes soon took a sinister turn.

She began targeting women visiting temples, preying on those who looked distressed. Posing as a helpful guide, she promised to solve their problems with special rituals. At the end of these rituals, she would give them water laced with cyanide. Once they died, she stole their valuables. Her first known victim was Mamatha Rajan, a 30-year-old woman, in 1999.

Kempamma was first arrested in 2000 for theft and served just six months in jail. Upon release, she resumed her crimes, murdering five women in 2007. The police finally caught her in December 2008 while she was trying to sell stolen jewelry. Operating under the alias Jayamma, she confessed to her crimes, revealing that robbery was her main motive.

Kempamma was sentenced to death for two murders, but one sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment due to circumstantial evidence. Her story remains one of the most terrifying in India’s criminal history.