Karamchedu

Karamchedu massacre refers to an incident that occurred in Karamchedu, Bapatla district of Andhra Pradesh on 17 July 1985, where brutality by Kamma landlords against Madigas (Dalits) resulted in the killing of six Madigas and grievous injuries to many others. Three Madiga women were raped. Hundreds of Madigas in the village were displaced from their home and killed after their houses were burnt and looted. Kammas, who held economic power and political influence, were the dominant caste in the village, while the Dalit villagers, who mostly worked as agricultural labourers under the Kamma landlords for meagre wages, were oppressed socially and economically. The provocation for the violence came from a trivial incident in which a Madiga boy objected to a Kamma boy soiling the water tank where Dalits drew their drinking water.