Father kills six year old to contest panchayat polls
TELANGANA: Maharashtra man allegedly killed his six year old daughter to overcome the two child norm and contest the upcoming panchayat elections, police said on Sunday.
Two-child norm triggered crime, police say
According to investigators, Pandurang Kondamangale, a barber from Mukhed in Nanded district of Maharashtra, planned to contest the local body elections with the help of Ganesh Shinde, a Sarpanch from the same area. With three children, the two-child norm became an obstacle to his political ambitions.
Police said Kondamangale first explored the option of giving his son up for adoption and altering the father’s name in the child’s birth certificate. When those efforts failed, he allegedly decided to eliminate one of his children to become eligible to contest.
Girl thrown into canal, body found
As part of the plan, police said, Kondamangale brought his elder daughter Praachi, 6, on a motorcycle to the KC Canal near the ARP Camp on the outskirts of Edapalli mandal in Nizamabad district and threw her into the canal. He then returned to his native place in Maharashtra.
Local residents later spotted the child’s body in the canal and alerted the police. Officers reached the spot, retrieved the body, registered a case and began an investigation.
Arrests after WhatsApp tip-off
After the girl’s photograph was circulated in WhatsApp groups, police received information identifying her as Kondamangale’s daughter. During questioning, Kondamangale allegedly confessed to the crime, police said.
Nizamabad police arrested Kondamangale and Ganesh Shinde in connection with the murder. “Both the accused confessed during interrogation,” Nizamabad Police Commissioner P Sai Chaitanya said.
Police also seized the motorcycle used to bring the child to Nizamabad and three mobile phones from the accused.
