Woman gram panchayat sweeper killed at office in Ahilyanagar; partner held

A woman sanitation worker at a gram panchayat office was murdered by her partner in Wadarwadi, in the Bhingar area near Ahilyanagar (Ahmednagar), sending shockwaves through the locality.

The victim, Anita Devidas Alkute, was 42 and worked as a cleaner at the Wadarwadi gram panchayat office. Police have detained Santosh Dhotre, 49, as the suspected accused. Santosh and Anita had been in a relationship for the past 10 years.

For the past few days, Santosh had suspected that Anita was close to, or in a relationship with, another man. The two had been quarrelling repeatedly over this. The suspicion took hold of Santosh, who went straight to the gram panchayat office where Anita was working and attacked her repeatedly with a knife and an iron rod. Anita died on the spot.

Bhingar Camp police reached the spot soon after being informed. Sub-divisional police officer Dilip Tipirse also inspected the scene. Police prepared a panchanama and sent the body to the district government hospital for a post-mortem.

Proceedings to register a case on a complaint by Anita's son, Yogesh Alkute, are under way. Police took the accused, Santosh Dhotre, into custody immediately. Bhingar Camp police are investigating in depth the actual motive for the killing and how the incident unfolded.

Residents of Wadarwadi and the surrounding area are gripped by fear and shock. The murder inside a government office has stunned everyone.