The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: A 30-year-old man from the Dalit community was allegedly beaten to death by the village sarpanch and his family in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district on Tuesday (November 26).
The deceased, Narad Jatav, was visiting his uncle in Indargarh village when the attack took place. The killing came in response to a long-standing dispute between Jatav and sarpanch Padam Dhakad’s family over a borewell, the police said.
After an argument between Jatav and Dhakad, his brother Mohar Pal Dhakad and son Ankesh Dhakad, the three allegedly surrounded Jatav and assaulted him with rods until he succumbed to his injuries, witnesses to the incident told the Indian Express.
A video of the incident that surfaced on social media shows multiple people beating up Jatav as he pleads them to stop.
The dispute began over a borewell that was built by Padam and Jatav’s late uncles. While the Jatav family used the borewell to irrigate their land, the Dhakad’s had allegedly built an authorities pathway through Jatav’s land to supply water to their hotel.
Jatav had reportedly removed this borewell pipeline, prompting a confrontation with the Dhakads.
Jatav’s family accused the sarpanch and his relatives of premeditated murder, the paper reported.
Superintendent of Police Aman Singh Rathore said that a case has been registered against eight individuals, including the sarpanch, under charges of murder, with four arrested so far.
The issue sparked a war of words between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that is in power in MP.
Congress president Jitu Patwari wrote on X, “On one hand, the whole country is celebrating Constitution Day, people are talking about the ideas of Baba Saheb Ambedkar, and on the other hand, under BJP rule, a Dalit brother was beaten to death with sticks. Today, the BJP rule has become synonymous with exploitation and atrocities on Dalits. The state’s home minister is holidaying abroad, and the mafia flourishing under his protection.”
BJP spokesperson Narendra Saluja however said that Madhya Pradesh chief minister has been monitoring the situation and no accused would be spared. He added that Yadav’s visit to the UK is meant to attract foreign investment and should not be criticised.