2 groups clash at Madhya Pradesh village over Dalit man's last rites
A Madhya Pradesh village saw stone-pelting and the blockade of a road after a group of people disrupted the funeral of a Dalit man, police said.
The incident took place on Monday at Leelda village in Sheopur district.
Five days ago, Jagdish Jatav, who worked in Bengaluru, died in a road accident. His body was brought to the village on Monday morning, and by 1 pm, his family and community members were performing the last rites at a government plot.
However, police said, some people had encroached on the property and they objected to the man's last rites being performed there. This led to an argument that then escalated to stone-pelting between the groups.
Jagdish Jatav's community members then blocked a main road where they placed his body in protest.
Sheopur Superintendent of Police Virendra Jain said the Jatav community's designated crematorium had been acquired by the Railways for a line to Kota, forcing them to use the disputed government land, which had been encroached by people from the Rawat community.
'It was not a caste conflict, though some have given it a political colour,' Jain told The Indian Express.
Senior officials, including Vijaypur Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Abhishek Mishra and the Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP), intervened and, after six hours of talks, pacified both sides.
The last rites were eventually conducted on the government land.
A protester, Suresh Jatav, alleged that despite authorities designating the plot for cremation, it was illegally occupied by people who lacked any legal claim to the land. 'The administration assured us the land was allocated for last rites,' he said.
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