Mohan Kumar (serial killer)
Mohan Kumar Vivekanand (born 1963), also known as Cyanide Mohan, is a serial killer who preyed on women looking for marriage. A Mangalore fast-track court tried and convicted him for the murder of 20 women in Karnataka from 2003 to 2009.

He was accused of luring women around the age of 22-35 who were unable to pay dowry or were unable to find suitable husbands. Kumar would offer these women that he would marry them without asking for a dowry. He would kill them by giving them cyanide pills and robbing them of their jewellery.

Apart from murder, he was also alleged to have been involved in bank loan frauds and forgeries.

Early career 
He was a primary school physical education teacher from Dakshina Kannada (1980 to 2003).

How he was caught 
In 2009, the police were looking into the disappearance of Anitha (22 years old), and her phone calls revealed more than what they were looking for. Her phone records showed that Anitha was in contact with another missing girl. Consequently, the authorities were able to track down a person who was using the girl's cellphone.

The police discovered eight cyanide tablets, four mobile phones, and jewellery belonging to Anitha with Mohan. On 21 October, Mohan Kumar was apprehended. Following his arrest, the police not only charged him with Anitha's rape and murder but also chose to reopen the cases of 17 missing girls.

Conviction and Sentencing 
Upon his arrest in 2009, he was put on trial for two years before being convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Anitha in 2013. However, in 2017, the Karnataka High Court commuted his execution sentence to life imprisonment. 

In 2020, he was found guilty of raping and murdering a 25-year-old woman from Kasaragod, his 20th murder conviction.

See also
Dahaad, a 2023 Indian web series about him
List of serial killers by country
List of serial killers by number of victims
The Deadly Dozen: India's Most Notorious Serial Killers by Anirban Bhattacharyya

References

1963 births
2005 murders in India
2009 murders in India
21st-century criminals
Indian people convicted of murder
Indian prisoners sentenced to death
Indian serial killers
Living people
People convicted of murder by India
Poisoners
Prisoners sentenced to death by India
Indian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by India
Crime in Karnataka