A middle-aged woman adorned in a Kanjeevaram saree, flowers in her hand, and a smile on her face — this is how many remembered KD Kempamma when she was caught at a bus stand in Bengaluru in 2007. To some she was Jayamma, to others she was Lakshmi or Santramma, but to the world, she is 'Cyanide' Mallika. This kind-looking woman was actually on the run after killing her last victim when the police intercepted her. After killing six women who she found at temples across Bengaluru, Kampamma is now lodged in an anonymous jail after her death sentence was reduced to a life term after a court ruling in 2012.


A seemingly ordinary woman with a modest life to becoming a deadly serial killer, KD Kempamma's ambition knew no bounds. Hailing from Kaggalipura, a village on the outskirts of Bengaluru, a young KD Kempamma was married to a tailor — a man who could offer her a modest life. But 'modest' was not what she wanted. Her ambition — overnight success, a rags-to-riches story. 


In a world where violence is often associated with masculinity, her story has turned every notion about women being mild and innocent on its head. As reported widely in the media, her story is more nerve-racking than those of her male counterparts. Her motive was not driven by a disturbed childhood or traumatic life. She just wanted to be rich, so she preyed upon the unsuspecting women.


It's not that Kempamma did not try to turn her fate in the normal way first. She even ran her own chit-finance business. It is when she suffered business losses that things started to change. Her husband left her soon after and she was thrown out of her own house. This was her life until 1998 before Kempamma started to take her first steps towards becoming the ruthless 'Cyanide' Mallika. She committed her first murder in 1999, according to records. 


Here is the story of India's first convicted woman serial killer, KD Kempamma, who was called 'Cyanide' Mallika because she used potassium cyanide in her cold-blooded killings.   


The Birth Of A Killer


Left on her own without a family, Kempamma started working as a domestic help and started stealing from the places she worked at. She served one year in prison because of a theft. Once she came out of the prison, Kempamma embarked on her bloody journey.


She found her prey at temples in distressed, vulnerable but well-off women who would easily take her bait. These women were often childless or facing marital or family issues. As a kind-looking, middle-aged woman, Kempamma would easily gain their confidence after promising them a solution through a special prayer. She would ask them to come for the ritual dressed in their best clothes and jewellery. She would then take them to a desolate area. "Once there, Mallika would start the puja; she would ask her victims to close their eyes, forcibly pushing cyanide powder mixed with either food or drink into their mouths," senior advocate Pinky Anand wrote In her book, Trials of Truth: India’s Landmark Criminal Cases.


Once the victims collapsed, she would flee with the jewellery, cash and all other valuables. 


Cyanide Mallika kept killing between 1999 and 2007. She changed her name after every crime to not get caught by the police. Her first recorded victim was a 30-year-old rich woman in Bengaluru, and she went on to kill at least five more. According to reports in The Hindu and The Times of India in 2008, a seventh murder was also linked to Kempamma.


How She Was Caught


When Mallika killed Bengaluru-based Renuka in 2006, and the police recovered her body from a guest house, clues during the investigation led to one Jayamma, who turned out to be Cyanide Mallika. While the police were trying to catch hold of her, she had moved on to her next prey — a childless Nagveni. Mallika had called Nagveni for a special ritual, made her consume cyanide and fled with her jewellery. The police found the jewellery with her when they caught her.


In 2012, Cyanide Mallika was handed out the death sentence following her conviction, which was later commuted to a life term.


Jayalalithaa Fan, Sasikala's Neighbour In Jail


As a woman who craved power, Kempamma was reportedly an admirer of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, and wished to meet her when he was lodged in the Bengaluru jail in 2014. Three years later, in 2017, when AIADMK leader Sasikala was lodged in a jail in Bengaluru after a conviction in a corruption case, Cyanide Mallika was shifted to another prison sensing a threat to the life of the leader, as reported by the media.


"This case was in direct contrast to our traditional thinking that women resort to gruesome crimes only when forced to, or under extreme circumstances that deeply affected the psyche," advocate Pinky Anand wrote in her book cited above. "The idea that women can kill seems to be a difficult one to digest for our conscience, but a mere look at these instances proves the opposite." 


What is striking about such criminals is that they stay behind the face of the ordinary. It is safe to assume most of us wouldn't be able to tell if Cyanide Mallika walked past us. The story of Cyanide Mallika reminds us of Cyanide Mohan, the mild-mannered affable man who could easily gain the trust of women. Women saw hope in him away from the materialistic world and he saw only material gains in them. He killed women using cyanide repackaging it as a contraceptive pill. Over 20 women fell prey to his notorious ways, but that's a story for another day.