Witch-hunting: a social ill law alone cannot fight

The recent torture and violent killing of a 40-year old woman in Rajasthan’s Ajmer district who was accused of being a witch is not an isolated incident. Witch-hunts are a common practice in many parts of the country and the problem of violence perpetrated against women in the guise of ‘witch-hunting’ is an extremely serious one. A ‘witch’ (dayan, chudail or tohni) is perceived as a person, mostly a female, who is capable of performing black magic or sorcery and thus cause harm to another person or family. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), India’s nodal agency for the collation of countrywide crime statistics, 2,097 murders committed between 2000 and 2012 were ‘witch-hunt’ murders. Moreover, many witch-hunting cases remain unreported due to inaccessibility and remoteness of places where these crimes are being committed.

While we have largely come to recognise sexual violence against women as a grave threat, we are yet to acknowledge the violence perpetrated in the guise of witch-hunting as gender-based violence. In its report on Contemporary Practices of Witch-Hunting (2014), Partners for Law in Development, a legal resource group working for social justice and equality for all women, makes certain very significant claims based on case studies of witch-hunting from Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The report reveals that although men may fall victim to this practice as well, their numbers are relatively small. Most victims of witch-hunting are women in the age group 50-60, followed by women in the age group 40-60. This is important as it tells us that contrary to popular perception, it is not only widows and single women who are the victims of witch-hunting. Middle-aged married women, who are presumably ensconced in the safety of their marital homes, are often targeted. In fact, the report states that marital kin play an important role in perpetrating this kind of violence against women.

The Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 2007 had expressed serious concern on the practice of witch-hunting in India as an extreme form of violence against women. It had urged India to adopt appropriate measures not only for the elimination of the practice and prosecution of perpetrators but also to provide for rehabilitation of, and compensation to, the victimised women. Further, it recommended that such measures be based on an analysis of its causes, including control over land.

Significantly, Rajasthan, where the recent alleged witch-hunting took place, is one of the few states that have passed legislation criminalising the practice. Other states in India that have passed similar legislations are Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh. However, evidence emerging from all these states reveals that they have mostly failed in effectively addressing the issue. There could be many reasons for this failure. It has been reported that in many cases, police are unwilling to register these cases as witch-hunting cases. It becomes difficult to establish such crimes of witch-hunting as often entire communities or villages are party to such crimes. People perpetrating these crimes are perceived as imparting some kind of vigilante justice and are protected by families and communities.

Criminalising witch-hunting is thus failing to recognise and address the practice of witch-hunting as a social act. While legislative steps are important, they must be accompanied by concrete steps to counter deeply embedded belief structures that seek to explain accidents, illnesses or any other forms of misfortune as being perpetuated by evil witches. Moreover, it is important that people are aware of the existing legal frameworks and can fearlessly seek justice through these frameworks. Often, women in vulnerable circumstances do not seek legal recourse as they are not aware of their rights. Steps must also be taken for rehabilitation of the victims of witch-hunting. Most of the legislations currently in place talk only of monetary compensation to the victims. However, victim-assistance has to be understood as long-term efforts at rehabilitation and psycho-social care.

Most importantly, the state officials responsible for implementing legislation on the ground need to be trained and sensitised to be able to understand the act of witch-hunting as a social act and to recognise the gendered nature of this act. The Rajasthan Prevention of Witch-Hunting Act, 2015, for instance, states that “no suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against the state government or any officer or authority thereof or any other person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act”. This provides impunity to the state authorities while investigating crimes relating to witch-craft and opens up possibilities for abuse of power.

It is also vital to study these instances of witch-hunting in the context of a critical crisis that the liberalisation and globalisation of the Indian economy have produced, as they have undermined local economies, devalued women's social position, and generated intense conflicts at the grassroots that often legitimise structural violence. The practice of witch-hunting is thus symptomatic of deeper marginalisation on class, caste and gendered grounds. To counter this practice the state must, therefore, go beyond seeking only legal solutions and work in partnership with community actors to address large-scale disparities in access to education, health and employment.

(The writer is Associate Professor and Executive Director, Centre for Women, Law and Social Change, Jindal Global Law School)