In a shocking incident highlighting the dark side of electoral ambition, a 28-year-old man from Maharashtra allegedly murdered his six-year-old daughter to circumvent the state's two-child policy and become eligible to contest Panchayat elections. The man, a resident of Kerur village in Mukhed taluka, Nanded district, bordering Telangana, already had three children and was therefore ineligible to run for the position of Gram Panchayat Sarpanch due to Maharashtra's Panchayat Raj Act.

The accused, identified as Kondmangale, sought advice from the current Sarpanch of the village, Ganesh Shinde. According to the Nizamabad Commission of Police, the two men allegedly conspired to eliminate one of Kondmangale's children. Initial considerations included putting the child up for adoption, but this was deemed insufficient as she would still be registered as his child on her birth certificate. Abandoning the child was also considered, but the risk of her return to the village led them to allegedly plot her murder, staging it to appear as an accident.

On January 29, 2026, Kondmangale took his six-year-old daughter, Prachi, on a motorcycle to Nizamabad district in Telangana, a short distance from his village. He then allegedly threw her into the Nizamsagar Canal, located near the ARP Camp on the outskirts of Edapalli mandal. After committing the heinous act, he returned to his village in Maharashtra.

Local residents discovered the girl's body in the canal and alerted the police, who initiated an investigation. Multiple police teams were involved in the investigation, which ultimately revealed the man's motive. He had been unsuccessful in previous attempts to alter his son's birth certificate to meet the two-child requirement. With the upcoming Panchayat elections in June, he resorted to this desperate and irreversible measure to clear his path to candidacy.

Both Kondmangale and the sitting Sarpanch, Ganesh Shinde, have been apprehended by the police. They face charges of murder, kidnapping, and other offenses under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The incident has sent shockwaves through the region, raising concerns about the lengths to which individuals will go to gain political power. This tragic event serves as a stark reminder of the importance of ethical conduct in politics and the devastating consequences of prioritizing ambition over human life.