A 30-year-old man was beaten to death with sticks and rods in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district in connection with a dispute over a borewell, police said on Wednesday. The incident prompted the Congress to highlight “atrocities” being inflicted on Dalits in the state, even as the BJP stressed that the guilty won’t be spared.
The victim, Narad Jatav, had come to visit his maternal uncle’s home in Indargarh village on Tuesday evening. The attack, allegedly “orchestrated by the village sarpanch and his family, stemmed from a long-standing dispute over a pathway and borewell”, police said.
Around 4 pm, an argument broke out over a borewell pipeline, which Narad reportedly removed, leading to a violent confrontation with the accused. According to the police, sarpanch Padam Dhakad, his brother Mohar Pal Dhakad, son Ankesh Dhakad, and other family members allegedly surrounded Narad and began assaulting him. Witnesses claim the attackers did not stop until Narad succumbed to his injuries.
A purported video of the incident went viral on Wednesday, which shows multiple people repeatedly assaulting Jatav, who pleads with them to stop.
Police reached the scene after receiving reports of the assault and took his body to the district medical college for a post-mortem.
Narad’s family accused the sarpanch and his relatives of premeditated murder, citing a history of disputes with them, police said. The disagreement reportedly began years ago when the sarpanch and Narad’s late uncles co-funded a borewell. While the Jatav family used it to irrigate their land, the Dhakad family reportedly constructed an unauthorised backdoor path through the Jatavs’ land to supply water to their hotel.
Narad’s father, Vishnu, alleged, “They killed my son. The police initially took the case lightly and did not listen to us. We had to protest for them to take action.”
Shailesh, his brother, claimed, “The land over which there is a fight is in our name. It is registered in the name of my mother, aunt and other family members. That borewell was made under a partnership, but they encroached on it. We protested before the authorities but nobody listened to us.”
Superintendent of Police Aman Singh Rathore confirmed that a case has been registered against eight individuals, including the sarpanch, under charges of murder. Four people have been arrested so far.
After the murder came to light, the Congress attacked the ruling BJP, claiming the party had pushed the state into lawlessness. Congress president Jitu Patwari wrote on X, “On one hand, the whole country is celebrating Constitution Day, people are talking about the ideas of Babasaheb 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 (CM Mohan Yadav) is holidaying abroad, and the mafia is flourishing under his protection.”
BJP spokesperson Narendra Saluja said that former Congress CM Kamal Nath had also gone abroad during his tenure, and the opposition should not criticise the CM’s trip to the United Kingdom, which is meant to attract foreign investment. “In Madhya Pradesh there is rule of law. No accused would be spared. CM Mohan Yadav has been monitoring the situation and has asked for a strict investigation,” he said.
