Witch-Hunting in India
Source: PIB
GS II: Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate
Overview
- News in Brief
- Legislative Efforts to Address Witch-Hunting
- Way Forward
Why in the News?
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in India has tracked motives for murder,” including witchcraft, since 1953.
News in Brief
- In 2021, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution to eliminate harmful practices related to witchcraft accusations and ritual attacks.
- Data from the UN shows that between 2009 and 2019, there were about 20,000 documented cases of such practices across 60 countries.
- In 2022, there were 85 murders with witchcraft as a motive, mainly in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Odisha, with additional cases in Assam, Bihar, and Telangana.
Legislative Efforts to Address Witch-Hunting
India has several state-specific laws addressing witch-hunting:
1) Bihar: Prevention of Witch (Daain) Practices Act (1993)
2) Jharkhand: Prevention of Witch (Daain) Practices Act (2001)
3) Chhattisgarh: Tonahi Pratadna Nivaran Act (2005)
4) Odisha: Prevention of Witch Hunting Act (2013) etc.
Reasons behind the persistence of witchcraft
- Lack of education and ignorance often result in mentally ill people being wrongly labeled as “witches,” especially during disease outbreaks.
- Widowed, single, or childless women are often targeted due to the desire to seize their property.
- The existing laws are recent. Common problems include low rates of prosecution and conviction, and insufficient penalties, as seen in Jharkhand.
- There is no national law on witch-hunting.
- The purpose of state laws can be unclear: Odisha’s law covers both witch-hunting and witchcraft, Assam and Rajasthan penalise alleged witches (with Rajasthan also targeting communities), and Maharashtra focuses on black magic.
- This issue is likely underreported in India, meaning the actual numbers may be much higher.
Way Forward
- Modern countries should have specific legislation to address the issue.
- There should be a clear distinction between witchcraft and witch-hunting.
- The IPC (or its replacement) should have specific sections for both witchcraft and witch-hunting.
- The NCRB should update its reporting to include separate categories for these issues, rather than just labelling them as murders with witchcraft motives.
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