SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Feb 9: A 70-year-old woman in Gumla Sadar Police station area was beaten to death on Sunday by a man over suspicions of being a witch, while on January 13 another woman was burnt alive in Simdega on a hunch that she practiced witchcraft. A week before that, a 32 year-old man was stoned to death and his body set on fire by a mob in the Kolebira police station area.
Within the 40 days of the year 2022, more than five murders have been reported due to such conjectures. Over the past several years, the number of reports about similar cases has dramatically increased in the state.
As per a report by Institute of Development Studies, most of the female victims are women from backward classes, tribal and Dalit communities. Police figures say that within the last seven years, in the name of witchcrafts, there have been averages of 35 murders in Jharkhand every year.
Jharya Devi, the victim burnt on January 13 had gone to a relative’s place to attend a funeral ceremony when some of the villagers attacked her. The locals poured kerosene on her and set fire to her, alleging that she practised sorcery that might be detrimental to their wellbeing. Some of the funeral ceremony attendees informed the police, following which Jharya Devi was rescued and taken to Sadar Hospital.
Around 40 year-old Sita Devi of Bokaro district is another such victim who was ostracized, tortured and often beaten up by neighbors, who claimed she was a witch who planned to hurt them.
Tazivan Bibi, a 68 year-old from Latehar was persecuted by a few men of her village. The culprits made a video of Bibi and would mentally abuse the old woman. ‘The incidents began after a neighbour fell sick and wouldn’t recover. The neighbour, a young girl, then had blamed Bibi of practicing witchcraft to hurt the girl and her family. Situations worsened after the boys of the village made a video and showed it to the villagers.’ Bibi has said that she would often be ostracized along with her family, and was even beaten up once. However, she was saved by perceptive planning of her son, who had already informed the police of his mother’s plight and the swift action from the police.
Labia Kongadi mentioned that a woman in her village was tortured in such a manner that she ultimately had to flee after selling her land. Kongadi says the torture began after a newly married woman at the village died of an illness. Instead of being taken to a doctor, her family members had taken her to witch doctors, also called Ojha. After the death of the woman, the villagers would often taunt the victim and had even threatened her life if she didn’t pay them Rs 80 thousand. The victim had no choice but to sell her land for Rs 60 thousand and flee.
Gayatri Devi is another such victim who was blamed of being a witch after her husband died. Devi, who lived with her son, was initially persecuted by relatives and family members. However, soon after she was also tormented by her villagers, who would often physically abuse and strike her.
Poornima Mukherjee, State Programme Manager (Social Development), Jhakhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) said, “The major reasons for why women are branded as witches that we have noticed under the Garima Pariyojna include greed for property of a widow or a financially weak family, internal enmity, ignorance and jealousy among villagers, etc.”
Vikas, PRO, JSLPS said, ‘Many times, witch doctors claim that a woman is a witch to create fear and promote their ‘businesses’ among villages. We, at JSLPS, are working to increase awareness among villagers and panchayats to create ‘Witch Hunt Free Panchayat’ in the state through street plays and other awareness activities and are also informing them of the laws in place to protect women. Secondly, such victims are provided legal, psychological help and are connected to sustainable livelihoods under several programmes run by the state and central governments.’
An official of the Department of Social Welfare, Women and Child Development says, ‘There is no denying the fact that we have entered a particularly aggressive, militarized and masculine phase of Indian polity and society. A dominant feature of these times is that women appear to be disappearing from and written out of public spaces and cultural narratives. This is more evident in towns and villages far away from the metros, where women are at the receiving end of violence. These parts of India remain unaffected by the displays of ‘national’ outrage and cacophonous media debates on mob violence or lynching.’
The official further added, ‘On a daily basis, there are more than two cases of witchcraft in Jharkhand. It is often more than 10 within a week. More than 50 people have to lose their lives per year due to ignorance and greed. Most of them include women. This means that 4 people die in a month because of being branded as witches.’
According to a report from the Crime Investigation Department (CID), in 2015, 46 women were killed for being a witch, 2016 saw 39 similar cases, while 42 such cases were reported in 2017, 25 in 2018 and 28 in 2020. These figures are based only on the cases that have been reported. Figures for 2021 are yet to be compiled, however, it is estimated that nearly 24 women were killed as per reports.
However, another report from the Home Department of the state suggests, between 2015 and 2020, 4556 reports were registered under the Prevention of Witch Practices Act, wherein 272 cases are related to murder where 215 women in all have been murdered. The department states, 818 such reports were filed in 2015, 688 in 2016, 668 in 2017, 567 in 2018, 978 in 2019 and a total of 834 cases were registered in 2020.
