The Dalit neighbours of a 23-year-old man from the Jat community in Haryana allegedly killed him as they were upset at his elder brother for marrying a woman from their community, Hindustan Times reported on Sunday. The incident occurred at Chandralok Colony in the city of Jind.

Sompal Singh, the youngest of three brothers, worked as a labourer. His elder brother Satyawan Singh married a Dalit woman three years ago against her family’s wishes. This had upset the family’s Dalit neighbours, who often fought with them.

According to Sompal Singh’s elder brother Ramjeet Singh, their neighbour Satish Kumar, who was drunk, confronted him on Friday night and started abusing him for his brother’s marriage to a Dalit woman. After an altercation, both of them returned home. Soon after Ramjeet Singh reached home, Kumar and a few of his family members arrived at their house.

“They shouted that they will teach us a lesson for bringing a girl of their community to our home,” Ramjeet Singh told Hindustan Times. “My youngest brother Sompal came out of the house hearing the noise and Satish’s family brutally attacked him with lathis and sharp implements on his head,” he said, adding that he was also beaten up along with Satyawan Singh and his wife Neelam Singh.

Kumar and his family ran away after the rest of the neighbourhood woke up. Sompal Singh was taken to Jind’s civil hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.

Station House Officer Dinesh Kumar said the police had arrested Satish Kumar and his friend Deepak and were searching for five other people accused, The Times of India reported.

“None of the accused are related to Satyawan’s wife, so there is no clear explanation as to why they were so angry about the marriage that they could kill someone over it,” Dinesh Kumar added.