Seema Gavit and Renuka Shinde

Seema Mohan Gavit (born 1975) and her elder sister Renuka Kiran Shinde (born 1973) were Indian serial killers convicted of kidnapping and killing five children.[1] They were charged with thirteen cases of kidnapping and nine murders. The sessions court found them guilty of kidnapping and murdering of six children. The High Court has given verdict that the prosecution proved five of the cases and confirmed the death sentence.

The Supreme Court of India rejected their appeal and sentenced them to death. Their mercy plea to the President of India was also rejected.

Modus operandi

Around 1990, Renuka was pick pocketing at a temple where she was caught. She had her son along with her at the time and managed to convince the crowd by sentimentalising them, telling them that a lady with a child cannot commit such crimes. Subsequently, Renuka and Seema, along with their mother Anjana, had children accompany them during their crimes. Over 40 children were kidnapped by 1996 and when they were deemed unusable, they were abandoned, injured or murdered.[2] Their crime spree begun when Anjana ordered her daughters to kidnap her stepdaughter (her first husband's daughter) Kranti.[3]

Trial sequence
  • 19 November 1996: Arrested
  • 29 June 2001: Sessions court convicts of kidnapping 13 children and killing 6 — Santosh, Anjali, Raja, Shraddha, Gauri, Pankaj.
  • 9 September 2004: High Court upholds the conviction but acquits her of the kidnapping and murder of Raja.
  • 31 August 2006: Supreme Court confirms death sentence.
  • 14 August 2014: President of India rejects mercy petition.

While Anjana died in 1997 in jail, Seema and Renuka claimed that they did not deserve death penalty.[4]

References
  1. "Thieves who kidnapped, used and killed babies". The Indian Express. 18 August 2014.
  2. Sutton, Candace (21 April 2017). "Serial killer sisters Seema Gavit and Renuke Shinmde's bid to avoid execution". NewsComAu. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  3. Doval, Nikita (2 September 2014). "The case of the sisters on death row". Mint. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  4. Eustachewich, Lia (25 April 2017). "Serial killer sisters say they don't deserve 'barbaric' death penalty". New York Post. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
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