Not your ordinary 'Mallika': Inside the mind of India’s first female serial killer; how she murdered women in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: She is a killer. She is a predator who hunted in silence. She is no ordinary Mallika — she is 'Cyanide Mallika', Bengaluru’s most chilling murderer and believe to be India's first woman serial killer.Her crimes, carried out with cold precision, echo the unnerving terror of Hollywood thrillers: like Aileen Wuornos in Monster, KD Kempamma killed in plain sight, preying on those who trusted her, masking horror beneath a calm exterior.She was cunning, patient and manipulative — her greatest weapon not cyanide alone, but the trust she gained by appearing devout and sympatheticMore than twenty decades ago, Bengaluru police announced the arrest of K D Kempamma alias Mallika, a woman who, investigators said, had single-handedly murdered multiple women by poisoning them with cyanide and fleeing with their jewellery. The disclosure sent ripples across the city, not just because of the brutality of the crimes, but because of where they unfolded.

Police said Kempamma, then 43, targeted women in distress, gained their trust by posing as a devout believer, and executed her murders with chilling precision.By the time she was finally caught on December 31, 2007, Kempamma had confessed to killing at least six women since 1999. In the last three months alone, police said, she had murdered five women — all in Bengaluru — leaving behind a trail of unexplained deaths that had earlier been dismissed as mysterious or unnatural.

The 'killer' instinct According to investigators, Kempamma followed a consistent and calculated pattern. She frequented temples around Bengaluru, posing as an ardent devotee well-versed in religious rituals. Keeping a close watch on women who appeared troubled, she would strike up conversations, listen patiently to their personal problems and present herself as a sympathetic confidante.Once she gained their trust, Kempamma would suggest special rituals — mandal pooja or other forms of worship — claiming they could resolve issues such as childlessness, financial troubles or family discord. She would insist that the rituals be performed at temples on the outskirts of the city, far from the victim’s home, ensuring isolation.At these secluded locations, police said, Kempamma would administer cyanide — sometimes mixed in water she passed off as holy water, at other times in food. In some cases, she forcefully held the victim’s nose and made them drink the poisoned liquid. In others, she waited until they were asleep or praying. Death was swift.

Once the victim collapsed, Kempamma would calmly remove jewellery and valuables and disappear.How was she arrestedThe serial killings came to light after Kempamma was arrested by Kalasipalyam police on a tip-off that a woman was attempting to sell jewellery and mobile phones in a suspicious manner at a bus stand. When questioned, she identified herself as Mallika and soon revealed details that stunned investigators.

“She had single-handedly murdered six women by using cyanide and decamped with their jewellery and valuables,” then city police commissioner N Achuta Rao said. The victims, police said, were chosen carefully — mostly well-off women who frequented temples and were vulnerable due to personal distress.During interrogation, Kempamma admitted to the crimes, leading police to reopen several cases that had earlier been registered as mysterious deaths. One of the murders, police confirmed, had taken place in Tamil Nadu, while others were in and around Bengaluru.A trail of deaths dismissed as ‘unnatural’Of the murders Kempamma confessed to, police said three had been registered as mysterious deaths and two as unnatural deaths. In several cases, the women had died inside temple premises, with no visible signs of violence, making it difficult for investigators at the time to suspect foul play.

West DCP K V Sharat Chandra said police began re-examining deaths reported in temples over the previous years and sought inputs from medical experts to identify cases involving cyanide poisoning.The reopening of old cases revealed disturbing similarities — women found dead during prayers, missing jewellery and no immediate suspects. Kempamma’s confession tied these loose ends together.A troubled pastPolice said Kempamma was a resident of Kaggalipura and had been running a chit fund business. She was married to Devaraj, a tailor working at NIMHANS. Her life, however, took a drastic turn in 1998 when she incurred heavy business losses and was abandoned by her husband.She was reportedly thrown out of her house and left to fend for herself. Investigators believe it was after this period that she chose what police described as a “murderous path”. Her first confirmed murder took place on October 19, 1999, in Hoskote, when she killed a 30-year-old woman, Mamatha Rajan, while the victim was praying.A killing spreePolice said Kempamma’s killing spree intensified dramatically in 2007.

Between October and December that year, she murdered five women, all in Bengaluru. Her final known victim was a 30-year-old woman who, police said, was distressed over not having a male child. Kempamma killed her while she was asleep.Each murder followed a familiar pattern — befriending the victim at a temple, suggesting a special pooja, isolating them at a distant location and administering cyanide. The jewellery she stole was later sold or pledged, eventually leading to her arrest.A gory pastIn a chilling revelation, police said Kempamma had been arrested once before, in 2001, by Bidadi police. She was caught while attempting to rob jewellery from a house where she was performing a ritual. At the time, she was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and released after completing her term.That arrest, police admitted, did not trigger a deeper investigation into her activities. It would take another six years — and multiple deaths — for her crimes to be fully uncovered.Serving life imprisonmentFollowing her arrest in 2007, Kempamma faced multiple trials across different courts. A Fast Track Court awarded her the death sentence for murdering five elderly women for gain. In 2010, a Tumkur court sentenced her to death for the murder of Muniyamma at the Yediyur Siddalingeshwara temple in Kunigal taluk.In 2012, the Bangalore rural 1st additional sessions court again imposed the death penalty on Kempamma for the murder of K Nagalakshmi at Ghati Subramanya, where she had used cyanide and electric wire before committing robbery.Another sessions court awarded her the death sentence for the murder of Nagaveni, a housewife found dead in a temple in Doddaballapur. Nagaveni, police said, was childless and had been persuaded by Kempamma to perform special pujas while wearing all her jewellery.High court intervention and retrialsThe Karnataka High Court later intervened in some of these cases. In one instance, it remanded the case back to the sessions court, directing it to record the cross-examination of the doctor who conducted the post-mortem and complete the trial within a stipulated time.In other cases, trial courts awarded Kempamma life imprisonment. In one such case relating to the murder of 50-year-old Pillamma in Maddur taluk, the additional sessions court sentenced her to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000.Life inside prisonKempamma, often described in police records as possibly the country’s first woman serial killer, was lodged in Parappana Agrahara central prison. She later made headlines when reports emerged that she was housed in a cell adjacent to that of AIADMK leader VK Sasikala.Following security concerns, jail authorities shifted Kempamma to Hindalga prison in Belagavi, one of the oldest prisons in the country, which houses several death row convicts and terror accused. Jail sources said the move was carried out quietly, without prior intimation to the inmate.A calculated predatorInvestigators said Kempamma’s greatest weapon was not cyanide, but trust. By exploiting faith and vulnerability, she turned temples into hunting grounds and rituals into instruments of death. Her victims trusted her as a fellow devotee, unaware that the holy water she offered would be their last.As police pieced together her crimes, the pattern became unmistakable — a serial killer who hid in plain sight, using religion as a shield and distress as a doorway.The case, officers said, served as a grim reminder that evil sometimes wears the most convincing disguise.