MP crime: A man residing in Dharmapuri village in Ashta town of Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore district allegedly bashed up his nephew and niece with sticks, with assistance from his son, while the victims were on their way to take the Class 10 exams on Friday morning, the police said. According to the police, the accused took the step owing to a long-standing family dispute, and both the victims were declared dead at the hospital. The police arrested the accused duo within a few hours, and said they are probing the incident.

Victims named Sheetal and Kuldeep

The police said that the brother-sister duo who fell victim to the incident have been identified as Sheetal (20) and Kuldeep (19). Meanwhile, the accused, identified as Harisingh Malviya (55) was their uncle, who bludgeoned them to death with the help of his son, Hemant (28).

Years-old land dispute ends in bloodshed

If the police are to be believed, the victims’ father, named Jagdish Malviya, was the brother of the key accused, Harisingh. Both the brothers had been embroiled in a prolonged dispute over the alleged encroachment of forest land. Reportedly, Harisingh’s younger son, Ritesh (23) died in a road accident in October 2025, following which the hostility between both the sides escalated.

Harisingh had abused, threatened Jagdish’s wife earlier

As per police records, Harisingh had earlier abused and threatened Jagdish’s wife, Seemabai, after which the police had registered an FIR against the former. The matter awaits hearing in a court.

Harisingh, his son launch attack on Jagdish’s children

On Friday morning, when Jagdish’s children Sheetal and Kuldeep were on their way to the exam centre to take their Class 10 exams, Harisingh and his son Hemant allegedly intercepted them and began raining blows on them with sticks. The neighbours attempted to intervene, but the accused duo fled the scene. The siblings, who had sustained grievous injuries, were rushed to a hospital by their kin, where the doctors pronounced them dead. 

Tension erupts in village after incident

After the siblings were declared dead, their enraged relatives created a ruckus outside the mortuary, and even assaulted a police constable present on the spot. On receipt of the information, additional police forces rushed to the scene and managed to control the situation. Later, the victims’ final rites were performed in the presence of cops. However, tensions continued to simmer in the village, as a group of unidentified persons allegedly set Harisingh’s house on fire Friday afternoon.

The firefighters and the police managed to douse the flames, though the house had been gutted up to a significant extent. By Friday evening, the police managed to swoop down on both Harisingh and Hemant, and invoked charges of murder against them.  

Victims’ kin allege negligence by cops

Mukesh, the maternal uncle of the victims, alleged negligence by the Siddikganj police, claiming that the family had submitted four written complaints to senior police officials in the past two months, but no action was taken. “Had the cops acted earlier, the children could have been saved,” he said.