Triple murder of Dalits fuels the ongoing caste tensions in rural India
Despite systemic discrimination being banned decades ago, a string of killings highlights the prejudice against those at the bottom of society
Down a bumpy track in western India's rural flatlands, a small farmhouse marks the spot of a mysterious triple murder that has sparked protests as far away as New York.
Sanjay Jadhav, his wife Jayashree and their teenage son Sunil were found chopped up and thrown into nearby wells in late October, drawing shivers from some of their fellow Dalits - those formerly known as "untouchables" in India's rigid caste hierarchy.
They fear that the usually peaceful Javkheda village, where flower-garlanded portraits of the dead family hang on a wall, has become the latest example of deep-rooted prejudice against those at the base of society.
"We are in danger. It could be us tomorrow," said Sindhu Dharsalvi, a Dalit farm worker living in a small settlement of tin-roofed huts in the same Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra state.
India banned caste discrimination decades ago, but suspicions around the Javkheda killings show the issue remains a toxic and highly sensitive one.
The deaths mark the third high-profile case of Dalit murders in Ahmednagar since early last year, when the body parts of three young male cleaners were found in and near a septic tank.