It’s a popular saying- Women are dangerous. Women stand true to the saying, ‘If looks could kill’- some by their smile and others well, by their actions!
Here is a list of 3 such deadly women in India who have been accused of heinous crimes.
1. Indrani Mukherjee
Perhaps, the most twisted murder of this decade, Indrani Mukherjee is accused of killing her daughter, Sheena Bora from her first marriage. Indrani’s second husband helped her in killing Sheena- who was introduced to Peter Mukherjee- Indrani’s third husband as her sister. Twisted much? Still confused? Here are few pointers.
– When still a teenager, Indrani was supposedly impregnated by a close family member
– She leaves the home, gives birth to Sheena
-She then marries Siddhartha Das- gives birth to Mikhail Bora
-Indrani divorces Siddhartha and marries SanjeevKhanna
– Sheena and Mikhail were brought up by Indrani’s parents.
– She then gives birth to VidhiKhanna
– She divorces SanjeevKhanna and marries peter Mukherjee after few years
-Sheena and Vidhi com to Mumbai and starts living with Indrani and Peter. Indrani introduces Sheena as her sister.
-Sheena and Rahul Mukherjee, Peter’s son from his ex-wife Shabnam get into a relationship which is disapproved by both Indrani and Peter.
– Sheena refuses to part from substantial amount kept in her off-shore account by Indrani; enraged by this behavior, Indrani and her second husband, SanjeevKhanna plot to kill Sheena and Mikhail.
Investigation is still on and CBI has taken over the case.
2. Phoolan Devi, The Bandit Queen
She became a bandit to help the poor; to punish those men belonging to upper caste who regularly mis-treat and rape young innocent women. Married at the very tender age to a much older man belonging from upper caste, she was regularly raped and beaten by her husband. When she had enough after 3 years of marriage, she left only to be labeled an outcast because she was not able to fulfill her duties as a wife. In 1979 she was wrongly accused of stealing from someone’s house- She was behind the bars for 3 days- during which she was repeatedly raped, manhandled and beaten severely; it was here that she started harboring hatred for men who undermined women. She was then kidnapped by a gang; the leader of the gang wanted to rape her but VikramMallah protected her by killing his leader. Later Vikram and Phoolan Devi were married.Phoolan became an integral member of the gang. One day the gang ended up attacking the village where Phoolan was earlier married- She stabbed her ex-husband and dragged him out of his home onto the streets for others to see and warning them against marrying younger girls.
Thakur gang members managed to kill Vikram, but ended up kidnapping Phoolan Devi- she was abducted and for several days she was manhandled, beaten and was gang-raped by several men of the village. She somehow managed to escape with the help of villagers; She managed to recruit a gang of Mallahs and carried out robberies in North and Central India. She became Robin Hood of MP and UP. She would steal from upper caste men and give it all to the poor. She returned to Behmai for revenge, dressed as police officer. Phoolan did recognize two among the many men who had earlier raped her, but not many. She then ordered her gang to line up all the upper-caste Thakur men in one line, and asked the dacoits to open fire. Even the ones who hadn’t done anything. Phoolan was now being referred to as the Bandit Queen.
In February 1983, she agreed to surrender. However, she did have a few conditions:
– She insisted that she would only surrender to Madhya Pradesh Police. She didn’t trust UP Police.
– She also insisted that she would lay down her weapons only before Durga, and Mahatma Gandhi’s picture, not the Police’s.
– She needed an affirmation that she won’t get the death penalty.
– An assurance that the sentence of the other members of the gang wouldn’t exceed eight year.
– A plot of land for her reconciliation.
– Her entire family should be escorted by the police to her surrender ceremony.
She surrendered in front of a crowd of around 10,000 people and 300 police and the then chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Arjun Singh. Phoolan Devi was charged with 48 crimes, including 30 charges of dacoity (banditry) and kidnapping. Her trial was delayed for 11 years, which she served in the prison.On the 25th of July, 2001, Phoolan was shot dead by three masked gunmen outside of her Delhi bungalow as a revenge for the 21 upper-caste men she gunned down in the Behmai massacre.
3. K.D. Kempanna, Cyanide Mallika
India’s first female serial Killer, Kempanna wanted to become rich quicker. So she would visit temples near Bangalore posing as a devotee to keep an eye out for women who were in distress; she would then try to gain their confidence by hearing out their issues and advise them to perform a special puja and would offer to arrange it in a temple on the outskirts of the city. The victims were asked to wear most of the jewellery they own. She would make her victims drink water laced with cyanide, killing them mercilessly then robbing the victims of their jewels and money.
Cyanide Mallika was finally caught by Kalasipalyam police when she was trying to dispose of the jewellery of one of the victims.
By: Archa Dave
