Renuka was raised in a criminal environment by her mother Anjanabai, who trained her in theft and pickpocketing. After marrying Kiran Shinde in 1989, she remained heavily involved in petty crimes with her mother and sister. The trio traveled between Maharashtra cities stealing, and soon used kidnapped children to cover their crimes.

Renuka and her mother started abducting children to use as decoys during thefts. If a child became a burden, they were killed. Renuka took part in the murders, sometimes by physically assaulting the children. She was arrested in 1996 and sentenced to death in 2001, but in 2022, her sentence was commuted to life in prison.