By Gayatri Makhijani, IANS
Jalgaon (Maharashtra) : The train pulls in at five in the morning; the signboard on the station reads: Jalgaon. We are in the west of India, the north of Maharashtra and 59 km off from the world famous Ajanta Caves. But, instead of revelling in the tourist attraction, we are about to discover the horror that is plaguing much of rural India – witchcraft.
Especially prominent in the tribal belt of Jharkand, witchcraft co-exists in Jalgaon and other tribal areas. The victims are in most cases hapless Indian women. They have little know-how of wizardry but are branded witches out of convenience. And, a long-held Hindu belief in superstition: nimboo mirchi (lemon-green chillies), black magic and the kaala dhaaga (black thread) among several others.’
A usual case of witchcraft stems within the house: a family of 10 is reduced to seven after a spate of sudden deaths. Or, perhaps a family is in the midst of an acute financial crisis and nothing seems to help. Children born into the family, thereafter, seldom live for over a month. Who is to blame? The next-door neighbour or in other cases a woman recently married into the family, the bahu.
A local villager, afflicted by a similar cause, says, “My family today is going through several hardships. My neighbour, she cast a spell on my family. She practises black magic on us and is the reason my family is going through so many hardships. We have no option but to send her away.”
Men and women come together to rid the village of the black-magic woman. She is pelted with stones, tortured, raped, ostracised, deprived of a family life and in extreme cases killed.
Over five such cases are reported every six months, but several go unreported. We scout nearby villages of Shahada and Dhadgaon that only tell the same tale. A local police officer on condition of anonymity, says, “Why have you come only to this village. Who told you to come here? This happens everywhere. Even in your city people are superstitious. Go back to Bombay.”
After much debate he adds, “The children don’t even go to school here… the basic amenities are not met, the villagers have little option. And, after all, this is a money-making racket, the witch doctor or the oza is at the centre of it all.”
The witch doctor as we discover is any other villager who lives in a hut. The powers have been bestowed upon him by the villagers themselves. He charges large amounts of money, to pinpoint the cause of the villagers’ problems. The cause often involves a woman in the village.
And the solution: ridding the village of the woman. Sadly, a blank piece of paper and a few red marbles are all he needs to arrive at the conclusion!
Haider Ali Noorani, who spearheads an NGO working for the cause in Jalgaon, tells us: “My men and I often go from village to village to rescue women from their plight. We try and iron out differences, befriend locals who are willing to help and work out these situations amicably. The police have little concern so we have resorted to our own means.” His assistant Vinayak Savle has penned the victims’ plight in a book entitled “Dakin Prashana”.
Among them, the politicians, activists and inhabitants are embroiled in conflict. Activists believe superstition is inherent to Indian culture and the villagers should be left alone, politicians plot one against the other to win votes. And, the villagers are constantly one against the other.
As we prepare to leave, the air smells of angst: we have several problems and little solutions. All Haider Ali Noorani really hopes is, “We create awareness”. And he believes somewhere perhaps the right strings will pull.
(Gayatri Makhijani can be contacted at [email protected])