Tribal women branded witch; one killed, another humiliated

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Tribal women branded witch; one killed, another humiliated

By Parvinder Bhatia; Ashis Sinha
The Pioneer
http://www.dailypioneer.com
Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Jamshedpur; Bokaro - In what can be called a severe blow
to the concept of rule of law, a 65-year old tribal woman
was killed by unknown persons for allegedly practising
black magic at Pitchli village in East Singhbhum district
on Monday night.

In another incident, residents of Narayan village in
Mahuatand police station area branded a tribal woman as a
�witch� and forced her to drink human excreta, besides
thrashing her ruthlessly. The village is located 35kms
away from the district headquarters of Bokaro.

A group of people barged into the house of Kaushalya
Sardar at Pitchli village in East Singhbum district and
slit her throat while she was asleep last night, police
said. She was killed for allegedly practising witchcraft,
sources said.

The victim was branded witch since her husband died ten
years after marriage. Prior to her husband�s death,
Sardar�s brother-in-law and his wife also died due to
some disease. The incident occurred on Monday night.

Her daughter has lodged a complaint against two
villagers. The matter is being investigated. �It is a
shocking case of witch-hunting and we are carrying out
raids to nab the culprits. We are also working on the
circumstances which led to the beheading of the old
woman,� said a police official.

Following the second incident in Bokaro, an FIR was
lodged on Monday against six villagers, including Birja
Manjhi. The incident occurred on Sunday. �Police is
investigating the matter though no arrest has been made
by Tuesday noon,� said Manilal Rana, officer-in-charge of
the local police station.

According to eyewitnesses, a group of villagers,
including Birja Manjhi rushed to the house of Sumatia
Devi (name changed) and brutally thrashed her. �Later,
they forced her to drink human excreta alleging that she
was practising black magic to harass them,� added an
eyewitness.

�Birja has been ill for quite some time and so went to an
�ojha� (witch doctor),� said a villager. The ojha said he
was under the influence of black magic and this was the
reason for his illness. Enraged, Brija rushed to
Sumatia�s house along with five men, thrashed her and
compelled her to drink excreta,� he added.

Notably, a large number of women have been tortured,
subjected to all kinds of inhuman harassment and killed
after they were branded witch in Jharkhand during the
past few years.

A report released by Jharkhand Human Rights Movement
2001-2011, says every three days a woman becomes victim
of crime related to witchcraft in Jharkhand. Jharkhand
has reported 1,157 cases of murder between 1991 and 2010,
in which a woman was branded a witch and killed.

To prevent such killings, Witchcraft Prevention Act 1999
was formulated in undivided Bihar, which was adopted by
the Jharkhand government in 2001. �Law is not sufficient
to curb the witchcraft cases. The real culprits are ojhas
and they move scot-free. There is only two years�
imprisonment provision for the ojhas who are real
instigators behind every case,� said Punam Sinha, a
social worker spreading awareness against the social
menace.

�The practice of ojhas should be banned and they should
be involved in other economic activities. Ojhas earn
money by practice and get free chicken, rice and other
domestic things,� she added.

Even police officials find difficulty in dealing with
this problem. �It is a social problem and awareness only
can end it.� We act only when we get information,� said a
police official.

Jamshedpur-based Free Legal Aid Committee (FLAC), a non-
government organisation working for the eradication of
superstitious �witch killings�, has condemned the murder
of the widow.

FLAC president Premchandra condemned the incident and
demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits. �The
government must take concrete steps to prevent such
social crime,� he said.

More at:

http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/127354-tribal-women-branded-witch-one-killed-another-humiliated.html

Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti

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