Women protest at Albert Ekka Chowk in Ranchi on Tuesday. (Hardeep Singh)

Ranchi, Sept. 7: Is price rise a witch that eats people up?

Women of Jharkhand’s hinterlands, branded ‘witches’ by the community, are not amused by the number “mehengai dayan” from the much-lauded film on farmer suicides, Peepli Live, produced by Aamir Khan and directed by former journalist Anusha Rizvi.

Seven ‘witches’ teamed up with The Association For Social and Human Awareness (ASHA) and Free Legal Aid Committee to stage a protest at Albert Ekka Chowk near Ranchi Main Road today.

They were opposed to the line in the song “mehngai dayan khaye jaat hai” written by Swanand Kirkire. Armed with banners and slogans, the women said the word dayan grossly violated human rights. A protester, Toppo Chotni Mahto (45) from Bholadih, branded a witch by her family, tortured and paraded naked, said: “We want the government to delete the word dayan from the song. I was forced to leave home after being branded a dayan. People still beat me.”

Lakshmi Murmu (40), another ‘witch’, said she was branded after her mother-in-law died. “Everyone blamed me for her death,” Murmu said.

Both NGOs have decided to file a PIL at Jharkhand High Court to ban the word dayan from the song. “Women branded as witches are tortured by the villagers who keep playing this song. The derogatory term must be removed,” said ASHA secretary Ajay Kumar.

According to ASHA’s data, around 1,400 rural women branded as witches in Jharkhand have died in the past 15 years. Jharkhand adopted the Witchcraft Prevention Act in 2001 to protect such women against violence, but it persists.