A land dispute may have been the immediate cause of the June 2012 attack on dalits in Laxmipet, a village in Srikakulam district, Andhra Pradesh, but the episode signals a potentially explosive situation. The incident was fuelled, on the one hand, by the dalit desire for self-respect and identity, embodied in the increasing assertion of a female dalit sarpanch, and on the other, by the state-level political advancement of the backward caste Kapu community. Particularly disturbing are the participation of Kapu women and children in the killings, and the failure of dalit offi cials and politicians in preventing the incident and securing justice for the victims.
