By Anjuman Ara Begum, TwoCircles.net,
“I was about 50 years old, when they branded me as witch. I didn’t know that I was a witch and they caught hold of me and tortured for two days. I was chased out of the house and it took a legal battle of eight long years for me to come back to my home. I sold all my ornaments to fight the case and get back my home.” these were the words shared by Khedai Bala Rabha at a state level consultation on “Witch hunting” organized by Assam Mahila Samata Samiti on the occasion of International Human Rights Day on December 10, 2010.
What is witch hunting?
Witch hunting is a superstitious evil practice quite common among the communities Rabha, Hajong, Mishing, Bodo, Adivasi etc. It is also practiced among the Nepalis. A witch in most of the cases is a woman who is alleged to be a practitioner of black magic and causes death to the villagers where she lives. Local Ojhas (healers) ‘detect’ and identify witches. Media has reported cases of witch hunting from various states of India viz Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa apart from Assam. It has been reported that 2,556 women were designated as witches and killed in India between 1987 and 2003. In Bihar alone around 522 cases of witch hunting were registered from 1991 to 2000 (the Assam Tribune).
What happens when a woman is branded as witch?
Once a woman is ‘identified’ and branded as witch, she will be summoned before the whole community and process of confirmation of her as witch will start. Generally two methods are adopted in Assam. One, if there is death of people in the village due to unknown diseases and a woman is suspected she is later accepted by everyone as witch.
Khedai Bala Rabha along with Sugani Rabha who were branded as witches are speaking at the consultation on witch hunting organisaed by Assam Mahila Samata Samiti on December 10, 2010.
Second method is that woman branded as witch is covered with fish net and tortured brutally with the teeth of pig. During such torture woman usually breaks down and accepts herself as witch to get rid of the torture. Once confirmed the woman is either killed or chased away from the village. If the woman is killed, her body is cut into pieces and buried separately. Though in most cases women are branded as witches, men are also not spared. Sometime the whole family is wiped out. The pieces of the dead bodies of the ‘witches’ are buried separately in different places as it is also believed that if they are buried together the witch will take rebirth and harm people.
Prevalence of the practice
Such heinous crimes of witch hunting are also reported in other states of India. For example, cases of witch hunting have been reported so far from various states of India viz Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. Media sources revealed that 2,556 women were branded as witches and killed in India between 1987 and 2003. In Bihar alone around 522 cases of witch hunting were registered from 1991 to 2000. In Assam, witch hunting is still very common in districts of Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baska, Sonitpur, Udalguri, Tinsukia, Dhemaji etc.
The practice of witch hunting was also present in countries like Sri Lanka, Norway, Sweden, USA etc. though there is no recent reporting of such practices. Persecution of witches was common in the sixteenth and seventeenth century according to a research paper entitled, ‘Culture, Religion and Gender’ by Frances Raday.(http://wunrn.com/news/2008/03_08/03_03_08/030308_culture_files/030308_culture.pdf)
Impact of this evil practice The evident impact of this practice is the denial of right to life to an individual whose rights are otherwise protected by the constitution. Sometimes if the woman is not killed by the villagers still the branded family suffers. The family will be socially confined and will be boycotted by the whole village. This will result in loss of livelihood and movement will be restricted. This may also cause in
forced migration or displacement and may cause illegal trafficking too.
‘My daughter committed suicide when she came to know that I am branded as a witch. She thought she will be branded as well and was afraid of the brutal torture as a matter of consequence’, said Lansun Rabha. The children of the branded witches don’t receive proper education and hence the next generations of the branded witches are too stigmatized.
Remedy
In Assam, several women’s rights groups spearheaded by Assam Mahila Samata Society have initiated addressing the issue of witch hunting and have been pressing for a law or policy to eradicate this practice.
The practical problem faced by the activists while dealing with the cases of witch hunting is the lack of availability of witnesses.’ When the whole community commits the crime who will give witness against whom?’ said Mamoni Saikia who is working on the issues of witch hunting since 1997 and has dealt with 38 cases of witch hunting.
Activists also informed that police consider these cases as ‘normal’ cases and don’t take prompt action.
Bihar was first state in India to pass the Prevention of Witch (Dayan) Practices Act of 1999. This was followed by Jharkhand’s Anti-Witchcraft Act in 2001 along with the 2005/2006 Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan laws. There is no such law in Assam. Except a project called Project Prahar by Assam Police there is no legal measure to curb this crime. This project too is not a continuous action.
Way ahead
General criminal laws are inadequate to solve this problem as it is not only a criminal offence but also a social offence. Various women’s groups in Assam have demanded a proper legislation to eradicate this discriminatory practice against women and their family. Only time will determine if this practice can be eradicated like that of the sati custom.