127 Women lynched in Jharkhand after being branded as ‘Witches’ – The Times Of India 16
March 2016.
35 year old women assaulted and fed with human excreta by villagers after being accused of
practicing witchcraft – 2015
Athlete branded a witch – 2014
60 year old women pounded after being suspected of practicing witchcraft – August 2014
An elderly women stripped, beaten and tied to a poll for about 12 hours after being accused of
witchcraft – 2014
Women beaten to death after being suspected to witchcraft – 2013
Three women of a family in West Bengal’s Paschim district killed after a kangaroo court held
them guilty for witchcraft – 2012
An elderly man and woman forced to ingest human urine and excrement in Jharkhand, after
being suspected to practicing witchcraft. – 2012
In Assam, a mother-daughter duo were accused of being witches, but police later found out that the
accusations were used as a pretext for their rape – 2011
I can go on with the list, dates, years informing about the heinous crimes done in the name of
witchcraft. We everyday come across this term ‘witchcraft’ whether be it in news or the neighbor
gossiping about how the woman in the ground floor practices witchcraft or ‘ cuts limes and sprinkles it
with the red sindoor and throws it out of her house’.
For those who think witch-hunts are a thing of the past in India, here is the stark reality. Witchcraft was
the motive cited for as many as 127 murders committed between 2012 and 2014 in Jharkhand alone.-
(The Times of India.)
What is Witch-Hunting? Witch-Hunting is searching out for persecution of persons accused of
witchcraft.
The practice of witch-hunting in India, includes extreme violence and deep rooted beliefs have led to the
torture and murder of alleged witches. Instances of women facing humiliation and brutalisation after
being branded as “witches” are common in the underdeveloped areas, with a significant tribal
population
Presently 4 states in India-Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Odisha have laws to tackle the social evil
of witch hunts. Chhattisgarh’s Tonahi Pratadna Nivaran Act of 2005, Bihar’s Prevention of Witch (Daain)
Practices Act (1999) and the Witchcraft Prevention Act, 2001, in Jharkhand. Rajasthan government has
came up with a draft legislation that lays down stringent punishment for those who harass or assault
women by accusing them of being witches. The National Crime Records Bureau says 2,097 murders were
committed between 2000 and 2012 where witch hunting was the motive. Out of these, 363 were
reported from Jharkhand and this figure does not include the murders in 2000, when Jharkhand was a
part of Bihar. The Jharkhand Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) office puts the total number of such
murders from 2001 to October 2013 at 414 and cases registered for witchcraft at 2,854. Apart from
Jharkhand, at least 11 other states - Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Assam and Bihar - still report cases of witch hunting.
National Crime Records Bureau Report 2010 says Haryana contributed 32.0% of murders due to
‘Witchcraft', and the bureau’s 2012 report Crimes in India says Odisha accounted for 26.9% of murders
due to ‘witchcraft'. Under culpable homicide not amounting to murder Odisha accounted for 75. 0%
cases due to 'Witchcraft’. Sixteen of the 27 Assam districts have reported witch-hunt attacks, in which
over 150 people have died since 2002.
Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, minister of state for home Haribhai
Parathibhai Chaudhary quoted National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data to state that 26, 54 and 47
cases of "murder for witchcraft" were reported in Jharkhand in 2012, 2013 and 2014, respectively. As
per NCRB data for 2014, tribal-dominated Jharkhand accounted for over 30% of India's "murders for
witchcraft", which stand at 156. Odisha, another state with a high concentration of tribals, reported 32
such murders, followed by MP with 24, and Chhattisgarh with 16. – (The Times of India, 17 th March
2016).
Reasons behind witch hunting
There are several reasons, such as gender inequality and property disputes, behind the labelling of
Indian women as witches.Womensenews.org said that branding a woman as a witch is "a common ploy
to grab land, settle scores or even to punish her for turning down sexual advances."It is difficult for the
accused woman to reach out for help and she is forced to either abandon her home and family, commit
suicide or is brutally murdered."Kanchan Mathur, a professor at the Institute of Development Studies
said, "Poor, low-caste women are easy targets for naming/branding [as a witch]...Women who are
widowed, infertile, possess 'ugly' features or are old, unprotected, poor or socially ostracised are easy
targets."However, according to Women New Network (WNN) - which reports about women's issues
–women who become too powerful and thus threaten the male leadership can also become the target
of witch hunting. - Witch Hunting in India: Poor, Low Caste and Widows Main Targets By Ludovica
Iaccino July 22, 2014.
In these turn of events Assam Assembly passed an Bill to end witch-hunting. The Act was prepared to
rein in the rising incidents of witch-hunting cases across the State, following demand from cross-section
of society. The Assam Assembly unanimously passed the Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention
and Protection) Bill, 2015 making any offence under the Act as non-bailable, cognizable and non-
compoundable to eliminate the superstition from society.
The Bill made provisions for imprisonment up to seven years along with a fine up to Rs 5 lakh for
identifying and calling a person witch. This will come with Section 302 of the IPC if someone is killed
after branding as witch. The punishment for leading a person to commit suicide after intimidating,
stigmatising, defaming and accusing as witch may be extended to life imprisonment and fine up to Rs 5
lakh. The Bill also talked about various measures that the administration and police need to initiate
along with NGOs and civil society to educate people about witch hunting. Besides, the Bill said the fine
realised as punishment for an offence shall be paid to the victim or his/her next of kin as compensation
by following the procedures. – The Hindu
In the end - Witch hunting is not just the result of superstition or deep-rooted beliefs. Property
disputes, land rights of women and gender conflicts are some of the other reasons.These practices
persist in India not only due to the social sanctions given to them but also because the police do not
treat these crimes equivalent to murders. The only hope for the victims of witch hunting and
superstition are tougher laws across all states and their proper implementation.
