BIRATNAGAR, May 16 -- In what could be a case of caste discrimination and aversion to intercaste marriage, the family and relatives of Sani Rishidev of Sakhma Tol in Budhiganga Rural Municipality-2, Morang, have been barred from using a water source in their own settlement. This comes as a punishment for Sani marrying a girl from an upper-caste family.

According to locals, Sani and Sirjana Thapa Magar, who were in a romantic relationship, eloped on April 1 and have been out of contact since. After the elopement, a dispute ensued between the families of Rishidev and Thapa Magar.

Since the episode, the Rishidevs have been cut off from their water source after the Thapa Magar families uprooted the only tube well in their settlement. There ...