Maharashtra Crime: Pregnant Woman Dies After Alleged Assault, Four Arrested
Dhule, 28th September 2026: A pregnant woman was allegedly beaten unconscious in Maharashtra’s Beed district and later set on fire in Dhule after the accused reportedly assumed that she had died. Police have arrested four people in connection with the case, while two others are still absconding.
The deceased woman has been identified as 31-year-old Pinky Hanumant Katkar, a resident of Raigad. According to the police, she was around three months pregnant.
The incident is linked to a dispute at a cultural centre. Investigators suspect that Pinky was assaulted near Beed following an internal dispute. She allegedly became unconscious during the attack, after which the accused thought she was dead.
The group then allegedly placed her in a vehicle and travelled towards Dhule. Police said the accused stopped near the Gartad Bari area on the Dhule-Solapur Highway, took her to an isolated location and poured petrol on her before setting her on fire.
Pinky’s charred body was later found in the area. The shocking case came to light after the police began investigating the incident and examined around 11 hours of CCTV footage along with technical evidence.
The vehicle used to transport the woman helped investigators track the suspects. Police followed the vehicle’s movements and other technical details before identifying and arresting four people.
The arrested accused have been identified as Sarfaraz alias Shafik Alim Momin, 38, Arif alias Khujya Asif Sheikh, 31, Swati alias Aarti Ganesh Kurade, 28, and Laxmi Balaji Pawar, 30. Two other accused, identified as Farukh Sheikh and Rohini Jadhav, are yet to be arrested.
Police suspect that the murder may have been connected to a personal or relationship dispute involving the victim and one of the accused. Investigators are questioning the arrested suspects to establish the exact motive and understand what happened between the assault in Beed and the killing in Dhule.
The police investigation is still underway. Authorities are also searching for the two absconding suspects and examining the evidence collected from the vehicle, CCTV recordings and the location where the woman was found.
