A 28-year-old man from Maharashtra’s Nanded district was arrested on Monday for allegedly killing one of his six-year-old twin daughters to qualify for contesting panchayat elections, The Times of India reported.
Under the Maharashtra Panchayat Raj Act, persons with more than two children cannot contest rural local body elections. Pandurang Kondamangale had three children: a three-year-old son and twin daughters aged six.
The panchayat elections are expected to be held in June.
Police said that Kondamangale allegedly acted on the advice of the current sarpanch of his village, Ganesh Shinde, who has been booked as a co-accused in the case, The Indian Express reported.
Sau Chaitanya, the commissioner of police of Telangana’s Nizamabad district, told the newspaper that Kondamangale allegedly took one of his twin daughters, Prachi, to the district’s Nizamsagar Canal, which is surrounded by agricultural fields. “He allegedly pushed the girl into the water and fled the scene,” the police officer was quoted as saying.
However, villagers working nearby heard a splash and reached the canal, where they found the child floating in the water. The local police were alerted and the body was recovered.
The pictures of the girl were shared widely on social media. Someone from the village in Maharashtra identified Prachi and alerted the Telangana Police, Chaitanya told The Indian Express.
One of the police teams later reached the village in Maharashtra and questioned the father.
Kondamangale initially claimed that his daughter was undergoing treatment at a distant health centre but later confessed to the crime, the police officer was quoted as saying.
Kondamangale has been booked on charges of murder and criminal conspiracy.
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