Poonam Retracts Statement, Admits to Killing Only One Child; Psychiatrist Rules Out Mental Illness
Media Report, Sonipat:

A major development has emerged in the Sonipat child murder case involving Poonam from Bhavhad village. After two days of psychiatric evaluation, doctors have concluded that Poonam is not suffering from any mental illness.

On Wednesday, Poonam confessed before the psychiatrist to killing all four children by drowning them. However, during further questioning on Thursday, she retracted her statement and claimed that she had only killed one child—Vidhi, her brother-in-law’s daughter. She stated that she did not know how the other three children died.

Psychiatrist Dr. Sandeep Antil questioned Poonam’s mother Sunita and husband Naveen before interrogating Poonam for over 30 minutes, asking more than 50 questions. In his report submitted to the police, the doctor stated that Poonam showed no signs of psychological disorder and gave largely balanced responses.

During questioning, Poonam admitted that she held Vidhi’s head under water for nearly five minutes until the child died. However, she failed to give any clear reason for the act. At several points, she deliberately avoided or gave incorrect answers.

When asked about superstitions, Poonam claimed that she often sees a dark figure in her dreams calling her toward him, but doctors did not consider this a sign of mental illness.

Her husband Naveen told investigators that Poonam was quiet by nature and often left for her parental home after arguments over minor household issues. Following their son’s death, she was also shown to neurologists in Jind and Chandigarh, but no illness was diagnosed at that time either.

Police officials stated that further legal action will be taken based on the psychiatric report and ongoing investigation.