Darbara Singh was born in 1942/1943 or 1960/1961 in Jallupur Khera, Amritsar district, India. He was previously in the Indian Armed Forces, serving at the Air Force Station in Pathankot. In 1975, he was accused of throwing a grenade at a superior's house but was later acquitted. He was married and had three children, but his wife expelled him due to his "bad habits."

Between April and October 2004, Darbara Singh kidnapped 23 children of migrant laborers in Jalandhar, Punjab. He would lure them with sweets, take them to isolated areas, sexually assault them, and then slit their throats. Some of the bodies were discovered in nearby fields. He later admitted that he raped his victims post-mortem to avoid hearing their screams.

Singh was arrested in October 2004. In 2008, he was convicted of two murders and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was suspected in at least 17–23 child murders, but due to insufficient evidence, he was acquitted in multiple cases.

While serving his sentence, Singh fell ill and was admitted to the Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala on June 2, 2018. He died on June 6, 2018. His family refused to claim his body, stating his crimes were "unpardonable."