Action Aid Association- The fight against witch-branding needs a national legislation

May 23: On 16^th May 2022, Sukrat Bai, her husband Narmad Singh, and their 12-year-old granddaughter Kumari Mahima were brutally killed in Madhya Pradesh, under the suspicion of black magic. This tragedy surfaces just a month after the murder of Sukra Kasua and Balamadina Tirkey in Assam for supposedly practicing witchcraft. All five victims across the two cases were from tribal communities. The atrocious custom of witch-branding and killing has plagued the globe for too long and its sustained prevalence in today’s India is indeed shameful. Rooted in patriarchy, caste, and superstition, this practice continues to take several lives.

While accurate figures may not be available, a few hundred people are murdered every year. According to data by India’s National Crime Records Bureau, upwards of 2,500 people, mostly women, have been killed in India between 2000-2016 after being accused of witchcraft.

Often confined to the rural realms and affecting the marginalized, witch-branding does not get the kind of focus and action it begs. ActionAid Association India’s study on witch-branding investigated 115 cases of witch-branding, across eight districts in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya, and Jharkhand. The study found that the reasons behind the attacks were issues of land, jealousy, accusations of causing illness, reactions to unconventional religious practices, against strangers in the village, and a reaction to women asserting agency and rights. A detailed study of witch branding in Odisha shows that most cases of witch branding occurred as victims were blamed for the misfortunes of other villagers. Some of these misfortunes were found to be children’s health issues; health issues of an adult family member, crop failure, or an attempt to land grab single women. The study also brought out the kinds of numerous human rights violations survivors of the witch-branding face. They are often ostracized, socially excluded, and sometimes even banished from villages. It was also found that this practice disproportionately targets women who are marginalized along the lines of caste or tribe and are single, aged, or alone.

Presently, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orrisa, and Rajasthan have enacted laws against witch-branding. However, due to the lack of awareness of these laws and redressed mechanisms, cases seldom result in investigations and justice. Cases of witch-branding require a holistic approach encompassing the rehabilitation of victims, punishment of offenders, and active and effective participation from the local administration.