Kolhapur, Sept 18: Grisly details of the sensational 1990-96 mass child murders tumbled out into the courtroom of Additional Sessions Judge G L Yedke during the examination of accused-tuned-approver Kiran Shinde today.Shinde, who kidnapped and murdered 14 children from various parts of Maharashtra along with the main accused Anjanabai, her daughters Renuka (who is also Shinde's wife) and Seema, took the stand on the second day of the hearing today.He detailed the kidnapping of their first victim when special public prosecutor Ujjval Nikam's asked him to reveal when and from where the child was abducted. Shinde said Anjanabai, Renuka and Seema kidnapped an infant aged one and a half from Kolhapur in July 1990 and named him Santosh. He, like the other 13 victims, was abducted to help the accused pickpocket and steal. When the child outlived its utility, the foursome murdered and abandoned his body.Asked exactly how Santosh was used, Shinde said Anjanabai, who had the child in her arms, banged his headon the road in front of a man who Seema had tried to pickpocket. When the man saw blood oozing from the baby's head, he panicked and let Seema go. Shinde said he was at home with his son in Pune when the incident took place. After that, the foursome reached Kolhapur in April 1991, where they continued their pickpocketing spree at the Mahalaxmi temple and Central Bus Stand. One night, Anjanabai, who died in December 1997, killed Santosh and they abandoned his body near the central bus stand.Asked why Santosh was killed, Shinde said the child was seriously wounded and would not stop crying. ``Renuka said the boy was of no use to us now and that he will keep on crying and might get us caught. Therefore we killed him,'' he confessed.Renuka, who was pregnant at the time of arrest, delivered a boy after her release on bail in February 1991. Replying to a question, Shinde remarked that ``they were not mad'' to use their own son for theft.Nikam then requested the court's permission for an examination of thesite. However, Shinde's counsel, Manik Mulik opposed the plea. Without giving a ruling, the judge adjourned the hearing for tomoorrow when Shinde will throw light on the others murders.Shinde also confessed that they purchased a car in 1993 and toured Thane, Mumbai, Surat, Baroda, Nashik, Pune and other places.
