New Delhi: K. D. Kempamma alias Mallika is a 45 year old woman, who is  known as Cyanide Mallika. 

She apparently hung around various temples in South India posing herself as a pious lady who was well versed with religious rituals.  

She gained confidence of many rich women and befriended them. She then suggested them of specific rituals to rid them of their bad times.

She then chose her venue carefully to conduct the ritual and instructed her victims to wear all their jewellery during the ritual.

During ritual she offered her victims cyanide laced water in guise of holy water. After the victims dropped dead she would decamp with their ornaments. 

Her first crime was on October 19, 1999 when she murdered a 30-year-old woman on the outskirts of Bangalore.  

The murders came to light after her arrest on December 31, 2007 following a tip-off. Eventually, she was convicted for six murders.