Ranchi, Aug. 15: On Independence Day today, family members of five women who were lynched at a village 45km from the Ranchi district headquarters gathered at the capital's Albert Ekka Chowk, demanding justice from the state government and calling for freedom from existing social evils.
Joined by members of an NGO, who were wearing masks, they raised slogans and issued a clarion call for everyone to join their fight against age-old superstitions with dangerous social repercussions.
Dayan ke naam par mahila ki hatya band karo, hame nayae chaiyae (stop killing innocent women by branding them witches... we want immediate justice), they cried out in unison for around half- an-hour from 3pm, forcing passers-by to take note.
NGO Asha (Association for Social and Human Awareness), which is working towards generating awareness against social evils, took the initiative of bringing the family members of the victims of the horrific killings at Kanjia village in Mandar block in the wee hours of August 8.
So far 35 people have been arrested, many of whom, police claim, have confessed to the crime. "We believe a mob of 50 villagers are involved," said Ranchi SP (rural) Raj Kumar Lakra. "We hope to arrest them all soon," he added.
The family was demanding compensation and the arrest of the culprits at large." Abhi tak hame koi sahayta nahi mila hain, hum log nyay ke liye bhatak rahe hain (we are yet to receive any grant from the state government, we are still waiting for justice)," said Anil Khalkho (32), an army man posted in Himachal Pradesh, whose mother Jacinta Khalkho (50) was among those killed after being accused of practising witchcraft.
"I am her only son. After hearing about the death of my mother, I returned to my village the next morning (August 9). My three sisters were present in the house, but they could not prevent my mother from being killed," he said.
Narrating their ordeal, Usha Khalkho, whose mother-in-law Madani Khalkho (55) was another victim, said, " Hame azadi chaiye dayan pratha se, dayan ke naam par hatya band karo (we want freedom from this age-old practice, stop killing in the name of witchcraft). My husband was present in the house, but we could not prevent the mob from barging in and dragging away my mother-in- law," she said.
Among the others who were present at the street protest were the family members of another victim, Ittawari Khalko (45).
"This is the first time that such a heinous crime has taken place in our village," said Mukesh Oraon, Birsi Khalkho, Angani Oraon and Madhu Khalkho.
Ajay Kumar, the secretary of NGO Asha, said their organisation was working to eradicate such social evils for the last 25 years.
"We have an anti-witchcraft law since 2010, but the state government has not made it effective. We need to create awareness at the grassroots level, in order to stop this social evil," he said.
According to Asha's estimates, collated from field reports, as many as 1,500 women have been killed on the suspicion of practising witchcraft in the last two decades.
