Witch-hunting in South-Central

Asia: Banned Social-evil needs

Revamped Law and Monitoring
December 12, 2020
Suraj Ray & Mohd Rameez Raza

In the last few decades, reformist governments and legislators had their focus on bringing
a social change; to drive out the superstitions and social evils from the social fabric and
inculcate the scientific and intellectual thought-process in the citizens. They launched
various campaigns; even banned and penalized social-evils to get better and faster results.
One such social evil which was banned and penalized in various parts of the world is
Witch-hunting,a practice of physical and verbal abuse of the woman alleged or branded
as the witch, who is claimed to have an ‘evil-eye’ and practices witch-craft or black-magic.
This allegation is generally made by a witch doctor (ojha/tantrik); thereafter the woman
is abused, tortured, lynched, raped, murdered by the member of the community.
Witch-craft or black-magic was punishable since the Egyptian and Babylonian times; but
as per Levack, there was a surge in witch-hunting practice that can be traced to the end of
the medieval period. Later in the 15th century, there was a wave of Witch-trials in Europe,
monarchs like Queen Elizabeth and King James I supported the practice, enacted several
legislations, and presided over the executions of women alleged of witch-craft; these trials
declined in 17th century and came to an end by the early 18th century in Europe. In the late
17th century the witch-hunting practices started in South-Central Asia, in countries like
India and Nepal; the first reported witch-hunt was in the Santhal tribe of Assam in 1792,
and later it became a common practice in adivasis and tribals of both the countries. In
the mid-18th century the witch-hunts became so brutal that Britishers banned the
practice. In the Post-independence period, there were reports of witch-hunting, after
which various Indian states enacted special legislation to ban and penalize witch-hunting;
and Nepal through its Anti-Witchcraft (Crime and Punishment)Act, 2014 did the same.
“They forced me to eat human faeces and beat my children, calling them ‘children of a
witch.’ I had nowhere to escape. They tortured me mercilessly.”

The above-mentioned lines are not from an ancient punishment story, this is the story
narrated by a woman living in the State of Jharkhand; subsequently, a woman in Kailali
district of Nepal was dragged, beaten black and blue after she was accused of practicing
witchcraft. These are not the only incidents reported recently; in India, as per NCRB,
there were 2097 murders committed between 2000 and 2012, where the motive was
witch-hunting; Jharkhand being the hotbed of these activities. On the other hand 210
murders of witch-hunting were reported in Nepal between 2012-2014 as reported by
INSEC. If the practice of witch-hunting is banned and penalized in both countries, these
reports raised some crucial questions: such as whether a social evil can claim thousands
of lives, or some other factors are involved with it; whether the laws are strict enough to
tackle the issue; whether it is only a law enforcement issue, or it needs a look at it with
some other lens.
According to a report prepared by Partners for Law in Development, witch-hunting was a
social-evil in the 18th and early-19th century, but now it is not just a superstition; a
woman is branded as a witch to solve personal conflicts of financial and land disputes; on
the other hand women with mental health issue are also branded as a witch, as there is no
or very less awareness about mental health and the shortage of mental-health
professionals. Further, the laws in place are toothless. In India, only seven states have
penalized witch-hunting; but as per NCRB’s report, it is widely practiced in twelve states;
this practice is the worst forms of human rights violations as observed by the Court, and
there is an immediate need for dedicated centralized legislation with strict provisions; as
the conviction rate is very low in the matters of witch-hunting and the accused easily gets
bail. Also, this is not just a law enforcement issue. In Nepal, there is centralized legislation
but due to lack of awareness and monitoring the law has turned ineffective. Therefore,
unless and until society is not made free of such beliefs and superstitions, it is near to
impossible to get rid of this problem. It is essential to make citizens understand that
witch-doctors are spreading superstition in society and exploiting under it, rather than
serving the society.

Authors’ Description
Suraj Ray is a law student at Nepal Law Campus, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He has
a keen interest in Freedom of Expression, Constitutional Law, and Social Justice. He has
an interest in expressing his opinion on legal issues related to rights and public policy
issues; and, he has been researching and writing extensively in these areas.
Mohd Rameez Raza is a student of Bachelor of Law at Integral University, India; he is
also the Changelooms Fellow of Uttar Pradesh Cohort. He is a legal researcher; and, has
a deeply vested interest in Human Rights Law, Indian Constitutional Law, and Gender
Studies; accompanied by wide experience of research and writing in the mentioned
areas.