Brutal way of killing kids recounted

During examination by special public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam, Shinde recounted an incident in April 1991, when two-year-old Santosh was given a beating during a theft attempt at the Mahalakshmi temple. “Injured Santosh was crying when it was decided to kill him. While sitting at the central bus station, Anjanabai banged him against an iron pole till he died. The body was dumped in a scrapped autorickshaw,” Shinde disclosed.

At the outset, Judge Yedke made it clear that due to the death of the prime accused, Anjanabai, in December 1997 in prison, her daughters Renuka and Seema would be the main accused in the case. Shinde admitted that he and wife Renuka, Devki and Anjanabai kidnapped 14 children between June 1990 and October 1996 and killed ten of them.

Anjanabai, Renuka and Seema were arrested several times for thefts and pickpocketing, Shinde said.

“Once in 1990, Renuka was caught by people, when her son Ashish was with her. She misled the mob by asking how a mother with a kid could indulge in a theft. Thus gaining sympathy, she managed to escape,” he said.

This incident, he said, proved to be the turning point in the life of the Gavit family. The family started kidnapping children to use them to gain sympathy if they were caught red-handed.

The courtroom was tense as Shinde disclosed the modus operandi of Anjanabai: “When caught, they would start beating up the kid and throw it at the feet of the people to earn sympathy. Some times the kid would die of a fatal injury. In others the kids were killed by the Gavits to avoid further risk”.

Shinde said they earned about Rs. 20 lakh and lived a luxurious lifestyle till they were nabbed by the police. He said their own kids were brought up very well. Renuka had deposited Rs. 50,000 each in the name of their four children at Shivaji Cooperative Bank in Kothrud, Pune, he said. He also identified photographs of children murdered by them.