Maharashtra Barber Kills Daughter as 2-Child Norm Hurdle to Contest Polls
Kondamangale brought his daughter to KC Canal in Nizamabad on his motorcycle, and threw her into it. As the girl’s body was found in the canal, the police booked a case and took up investigation
Hyderabad: A 28-year-old barber allegedly killed his six-year-old daughter by pushing her into a canal in Nizamabad to remain eligible to contest the upcoming sarpanch elections in Maharashtra, police said on Monday.
The accused, Panduranga Kondamangale, a resident of Kerur village in Mukhed taluq of Nanded district, Maharashtra, was arrested along with Ganesh Shinde, 35, the sitting Sarpanch of the village, for their alleged role in the crime, Nizamabad police commissioner Potharaju Sai Chaitanya said.
According to police, the accused had three children and was worried about getting disqualified from contesting local body elections in Maharashtra because of the two-child norm.
Police said that the accused tried to get his daughter adopted by someone or get her birth certificate altered. However, having failed to do either, the accused allegedly hatched a plan to kill one of his children and later claimed that the child had gone missing.
As part of the plan, Kondamangale allegedly got his eldest daughter, Prachi, onto his motorcycle on the pretext of a trip and brought her to Nizamabad.
According to Yedapally Sub Inspector Mutyala Rama, villagers on January 29, 2026, noticed the body of an unidentified six-year-old girl in the Nizam Sagar Canal near ARP Camp in Yedapally police limits. A case was registered, and the girl’s details were circulated on social media and WhatsApp groups to establish her identity.
“The accused was keen on contesting the sarpanch post in his village. However, the state government’s two-child policy would disqualify him from contesting the election. He consulted the current sarpanch, Shinde Ganesh and tried to get one of his three children adopted by someone or get the child’s birth certificate altered," the police commissioner said.
Police said a WhatsApp status posted by a constable, Sudheer, was seen by relatives of the family in Mukhed, who identified the girl as Prachi Kondamangale. A police team later visited the village and confirmed her identity.
According to police, the accused pushed the child into the canal near D-46/8 of the Nizam Sagar Canal while she was still alive, leading to her death by drowning.
Police said both the accused have confessed to the crime. They were produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody.
