Ranchi, Sept. 6: Titled Tantra, an hour-long documentary on witchcraft in areas around Ranchi, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Lohardaga, Gumla and Simdega, is being shown on the National Geographic channel.

The 10-episode film on witch-hunting was shot in many parts of Jharkhand. Only one episode has been aired so far.

The film was made by MediaTech, Delhi, an organisation which specialises in documentary filmmaking. The filmmakers took the help of city NGO, Asha-Flac, which helped crew members to zero in on particular cases.

Coordinator of Asha-Flac Ajay Kumar Jaiswal, said: “The film is on witch-hunting which is practised in many parts of India. But, here the focus was on Jharkhand where the practice is rampant.

“We faced problems while shooting as we had to remain awake the whole night and find out cases. We had to shoot at the crematoriums to find out the ‘witch deaths’. We also interviewed ojhas, who denied being involved in branding innocent villagers as witches. But, ojhas often encourage people to practice witch craft,” he said.

He added that the crew members shot at authentic locations and people, who knew of real-life incidents. In one case of witch-hunting a young girl called Choti Matani, a resident of Birbas village in Seraikela-Kharsawan, was paraded naked and thrown out of the village.

“But now we have rehabilitated her and are trying to spread the message among villagers about the ill-effects of witch-hunting at the rehabilitation centre located at Birbas. That incident, is also a part of the film,” Ajay said.

So far, 835 women have been killed after being branded as witches. Often accusations follow, in an attempt to usurp land and mostly widows are targeted.