Panchayat Candidate Kills Daughter To Qualify Under Maharashtra's 2-Child Election Rule

Last Updated:February 03, 2026, 14:29 IST

Under Maharashtra's local self-government rules, individuals with more than two children are disqualified from contesting village panchayat elections

Prachi, just six years old, was one of Pandurang's twin daughters. (News18 Hindi)

In a chilling incident that has shocked two states, a man allegedly murdered his 6-year-old daughter to overcome a legal hurdle in contesting Maharashtra’s local body elections. Pandurang Kondamangale, a resident of Kerur village in Maharashtra’s Nanded district, was arrested for allegedly killing his daughter Prachi by pushing her into the Nizamsagar canal in Telangana’s Nizamabad area on January 29.

Prachi, just six years old, was one of Pandurang’s twin daughters. He later had a son, taking his total number of children to three. Under Maharashtra’s local self-government rules, individuals with more than two children are disqualified from contesting village panchayat elections. Police say this disqualification became the biggest impediment to Pandurang’s political ambitions.

Investigations have revealed that Pandurang initially attempted to give Prachi up for adoption to make himself eligible to contest the elections. “When the adoption plan failed, the accused decided to kill her," Telangana Police Commissioner P Sai Chaitanya said.

The current head (sarpanch) of Kerur village, Ganesh Shinde, has also been arrested in connection with the case. Police allege that Shinde encouraged Pandurang to pursue his electoral ambitions and supported him despite being aware that he was legally disqualified due to having three children.

The case surfaced after the body of an unidentified girl was found in the Nizamsagar canal under the jurisdiction of Bodhan rural police station in Nizamabad district. In an effort to identify the child, a police constable shared her photograph on WhatsApp. Within hours, police in Mukhed taluka of Maharashtra identified the girl as Prachi, who had been reported missing for several days.

During questioning, Pandurang reportedly gave contradictory statements, raising suspicion. Mobile location data placed him in Telangana at the time of the incident. Following sustained interrogation, he allegedly confessed to the crime.

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