Man wanting to be sarpanch drowns 6-year-old daughter to get around 2-child rule
A Maharashtra man allegedly killed his six-year-old daughter to meet the two-child norm for contesting local body elections, police said.
A man in Maharashtra allegedly killed his six-year-old daughter to remain eligible to contest local body elections, as the state’s two-child norm barred candidates with more than two children from contesting panchayat polls.
The accused, a 28-year-old resident of Nanded district bordering Telangana, reportedly took his daughter on a motorcycle on January 29 and threw her into a canal in neighbouring Nizamabad district. Local residents later spotted the girl’s body in the canal and alerted the police.
Police registered a case and formed three teams to investigate. The victim was subsequently identified as one of the three children, two daughters and a son, of the accused, who runs a salon in Mukhed and lived with his wife and children.
Investigators found that the man was planning to contest the post of sarpanch in the upcoming Gram Panchayat elections. However, Maharashtra’s two-child eligibility rule would have disqualified him.
Police said the sitting sarpanch allegedly advised him to give one of his children up for adoption to meet the eligibility criteria.
The accused then attempted to alter his son’s birth certificate and reportedly visited the Pune Municipal Corporation office for this purpose, but failed.
Police said he later conspired to kill one of his children and report the child as missing.
During the investigation, police also arrested Ganesh Shinde, the sitting sarpanch, in connection with the case as they both had discussions before committing the crime.