Unidentified people poured kerosene in a well used by Dalits in a Madhya Pradesh village last week, reports have said. The incident is being described by the minority community members as an act of revenge for flouting archaic restrictions put in place by members of the dominant upper caste community. The incident took place in Agar Malwa district.

The 500 Dalit families who used to draw water from the well have held that the act was meant to teach the Dalits a lesson after one of the members of their community had celebrated his daughter’s marriage with a band party – something that is considered to be reserved only for the upper caste people in the village, reported NDTV.

Chander Meghwal had hired a band party and celebrated his daughter’s wedding on April 23 on a large scale, and had used the restricted main road in the village, allegedly going against a diktat by the upper caste people. After being warned against flouting these rules, he had alerted the local administration about the celebrations to avoid any untoward incidents. The wedding was held peacefully with security provided by the local police.

However, a few days after the wedding, kerosene was found in the only well used by Dalits in the village. Among other things, Meghwal had been warned that he would not be allowed to use the community well if he went ahead with the celebrations for his daughter’s wedding.

On Saturday, District Collector DV Singh and Superintendent of Police RS Meena went to the village to take stock of the situation, reported Hindustan Times. Singh said a police investigation was under way. “The contaminated water has been pumped out and the water is potable again,” he said. The administration has decided to dig two borewells for the Dalits in the village.

Discrimination and atrocities against people belonging to the Scheduled Castes have appeared to be on the rise. A group of upper-caste men had attacked a Dalit groom last week for riding a mare during his wedding procession in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

A similar incident had taken place in Haryana in April. A Dalit man was beaten up allegedly by a group of upper-caste youths for riding a mare to his bride’s house in Sanjarwas village of Charkhi Dadri district on April 4. The ceremony was performed under tight security after the groom, Sanjay Kumar of Dhani Rivasa village, was discharged from hospital.

In March, violence had broken out in a village in Karnal after upper-caste men had prevented a Dalit groom from carrying out the marriage ritual of ghurchari, where the groom rides a mare around the village before heading to the bride’s house.