A Dalit villager’s decision to hire a band party to welcome the bridegroom at his daughter’s wedding in a village in Madhya Pradesh drew a cruel retribution from upper caste villagers who allegedly poured kerosene into a well used by so-called low castes.
When Chander Meghwal, a resident of Agar Malwa district in Madhya Pradesh married off his daughter last week, there was music and band at the event, against the diktat of the upper caste villagers.
The incident in Mana village in Agar Malwa district, about 200 km from the state capital, last week once again underlined caste fault lines in the country.
Infuriated over a lower caste man defying their order, the upper caste villagers allegedly poured kerosene in a well used by Dalits, rendering it useless.
“Soon after the marriage, we found that someone poured kerosene into the well that supplied water to around 100 families of the lower caste,” Chander Meghwal Said.
As the Dalits could not drink the contaminated water they dug a hole on the banks of the Kalisindh river for an alternate source of water. Simultaneously, they also used a pump to suck out the contaminated water in the well.
As tensions remain high in the village, police have taken note of the matter and have registered a case against unknown persons.
“A team of administrative officials was immediately rushed to the village. The water was drained out and the well cleaned. Now the water from the well can be consumed,” Agar Malwa district collector DV Singh Said.
