K. D. Kempamma - "Cyanide Mallika"

Overview

K. D. Kempamma, widely known by the media nickname "Cyanide Mallika," is recorded as India's first convicted female serial killer. Operating in and around Bangalore (Bengaluru) in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, she is documented to have killed six women between 1999 and 2007. Her crimes followed a consistent pattern: she targeted women who appeared to be in personal or spiritual distress, gained their trust at Hindu temples, and then poisoned them with cyanide in order to steal their gold jewellery and other valuables.

The case drew significant national attention in India because of the rarity of a female serial offender and the calculated, religiously-framed manner in which the killings were carried out. The robbery of gold ornaments was identified as the primary motive, with the temple setting used as a means of building trust with vulnerable victims.

Background

Kempamma was reported to have lived in Kaggalipura, a village on the outskirts of Bangalore. According to accounts of her life, she had been married to a tailor and at one point ran a small chit-fund style finance business. Multiple sources state that her financial venture collapsed, her marriage broke down, and she experienced significant hardship in the period leading up to her first killing in the late 1990s.

These personal and financial difficulties are commonly cited as context for the robberies that motivated the murders, though biographical details about her early life remain limited and are drawn largely from press reporting and her own later statements to police. During her crimes she is reported to have used aliases, including the name "Jayamma," to avoid detection.

Modus Operandi

Kempamma presented herself as a devout and pious woman and frequented temples near Bangalore, where she looked for female devotees who appeared troubled. She would listen to a target's personal problems and gain her confidence, then advise her to perform a special ritual, often described as a mandala pooja, claiming it would resolve the woman's difficulties.

She typically instructed the victim to come to a temple wearing her best clothes and gold jewellery for the ritual. During the ceremony she would ask the woman to close her eyes and then have her consume cyanide-laced "holy water" or food. After the victim died, Kempamma stripped the body of its gold ornaments and other valuables. Reports indicate she obtained the cyanide from jewellery workshops, where the chemical is used in gold cleaning and electroplating, and she reportedly said she had learned of the poison's lethal use from films.

The Killings

Her first documented murder is generally dated to 19 October 1999. The victim was a woman in her early thirties who was killed in connection with a temple visit. After this initial killing, there was a gap of several years before a renewed cluster of murders.

The majority of the deaths attributed to Kempamma occurred in 2007, with several killings concentrated in the final months of that year. In total she was linked to the deaths of six women across the late 1990s and 2000s. Because the victims were poisoned and robbed in temple settings, and because the deaths initially appeared isolated, the connection between the cases was not immediately recognized.

Arrest, Trial and Conviction

Kempamma was eventually caught after police received information while she attempted to sell jewellery stolen from her victims. She was operating under an alias at the time of her arrest. Under interrogation she confessed to the killings and stated that robbery was the central motive behind them.

She was tried in the Karnataka courts and convicted. Reporting indicates she was sentenced to death, and she is frequently described as the first woman to receive a death sentence in Karnataka. Her case became a notable reference point in Indian crime history as the first instance of a woman being convicted as a serial killer in the country.

Coverage of the case has noted some variation in the precise dates of her arrest and sentencing across different sources, and certain biographical and procedural details rest on press accounts rather than fully consistent official records.