WITCHCRAFT IN INDIA

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Two women were allegedly abducted, beheaded and buried as part of a “witchcraft ritual” in the Pathanamthitta district, Kerala.

Present Status of Witchcraft in India

According to the National Crime Records Bureau report of 2021: Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana accounted for 49 out of the 68 registered cases of witchcraft in the country.
In India, no Union law criminalizes actions that promote the belief in witchcraft; however, several states had made laws.

States' law on witchcraft

In 1999, Bihar became the first state to introduce a law on the subject.
- It defined Witches as women who were thought by society members to possess the power of harming others through the art of black magic, evil eyes, or “Mantras” (chants).
Bihar passed the Prevention Of Witch Practices Act, of 1999, which provides effective measures to prevent witch practices and identification of a woman as a witch and their oppression mostly prevalent in Tribal areas and to eliminate the woman’s torture, humiliation and killing by the society.
- The act defined it as a cognizable and non-bailable offence; meaning a police officer could make an arrest without a warrant, and bail is not automatic given.
- It has a provision of jail term extending up to 3 months or a fine of Rs 1,000 for those who caused harm to a woman by branding her a witch.
In 2001, Jharkhand also made a law. According to the law identification of ‘witches’, lead to horrific crimes against women…including death, inhumane treatment, rape, etc.
In Chhattisgarh; Provision of punishment of up to 3 years of jail for identifying any person as a witch.
Odisha passed a law in 2013 to provide effective measures to tackle the menace of witch-hunting.
In 2018, Assam passed a law to prevent the sharing of harmful information and to ensure the protection or shelter home the possible victims.

Way Forward

Illiteracy, misleading information, Orthodox and superstitious mindset of the people are the main reasons behind this evil practice.
Strict implementation of the law and promotion of education and social awareness could help us to get rid of this social evil.