Cuttack, Nov. 10: The Odisha Rationalist Society has filed a PIL in the high court following spurt in witchcraft murders in the state despite enactment of a law to curb it.
On April 25, 2012, Orissa High Court had asked the state government to tackle witch hunting after social activist Sashiprava Bindani and the society had filed two separate PILs.
In December last year, the Assembly passed the Odisha Prevention of Witch-hunting Bill, 2013, prohibiting all forms of witch-hunting and other similar practices. The bill became an act in February.
An offence under the new law is treated as non-bailable and invites imprisonment up to three years and a penalty of Rs 1,000 for abetting and provoking witch-hunting.
In his fresh PIL, society secretary Debendra Sutar alleged that such offences persist even after enactment of the new law as the state government did not taken any preventive measures.
“No awareness programme has been undertaken by the government. So the crime related to witch hunting and superstitious practice continues somewhere or the other in the state almost every day. In the last four months, 24 persons were killed on the pretext of witch-hunting and all the victims were women and belonged to the marginalised section of the society,” petitioner’s advocate Kshirod Rout said.
According to the petition, 56 persons in the state were killed in the name of witchcraft in 2013.
In its petition, the society has sought the court’s direction to the state government to undertake awareness campaign at village level by involving non-government organisations, teachers, students and the mass media.
The society has also sought direction to the state government to form special investigating teams for the purpose of investigation and prosecution of offences related to superstitious activities and set up special courts to try such cases.
The petitioner has further sought direction “to provide health care facilities at the doorsteps of the people and more particularly in tribal areas and to organise health camps at the village level at regular intervals to detect cases of persons with psychological disorders and provide them free treatment”.
Lack of health facilities offers thriving grounds for witch doctors. People believe in them in the absence of better alternatives. In most cases, a witch is very likely a woman, suffering from psychological ailments.
“Due to want of education, basic health care facilities and ignorance, they are involved in such crimes. Sometimes at the instance of witch doctors or tantriks they suspect some persons of practising sorcery if they experience some unnatural incidents or ailments which ultimately lead to act of witch-hunting,” the PIL contends.
On Saturday, Baripada police arrested Bhanu Majhi, 29, on the charge of killing Phulamani Majhi, a 75-year-old widow. Bhanu had suspected her to be a witch.
