WUNRN
Women's Feature Service
INDIA-RAJASTHAN -WOMEN ACCUSED AS
WITCHES - DRAFT LAW - RIGHTS
By Renu Rakesh
Across Rajasthan, mentally ill, widowed, infertile or old
women are declared witches and subjected to brutal forms of torture.
(Credit: Renu Rakesh\WFS)
Nimera, Jaipur
(Women's Feature Service) - Vimla Devi, 39, was preparing to go to bed when she
heard loud bangs on her door. Her heart sank. At 9 p.m., everyone in Nimera
village, 25 kilometres from the state capital of Jaipur, had already settled
down for the night. Piercing the calm came the shouts of men wielding 'lathis'
(sticks) and trying to break down Vimla's door: "We will kill this woman
today," they shouted. Inside the house, Vimla and her two children
shuddered with fear.
A child in the
village had fallen seriously ill, and these angry men believed Vimla to be the
cause. Fortunately for her, more enlightened people of the village intervened
and suggested that instead of targeting the poor woman the child be taken to a
doctor. This was in July 2010.
The next day Vimla's
husband, Nemi Chand, a daily wager, went to the nearest police outpost to lodge
a complaint, the fourth in the last seven years. A few days later, delegates
from the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) came down to Nimera and
forced the police to take action.
Vimla has been the
target of witch hunters over the last seven years. She was labelled a witch, or
'dayan' in local parlance, ever since the death of her mother-in-law, who had
also been so branded. In fact, the villagers believed that Vimla had inherited
the art of witchcraft from her.
Vimla was first
attacked in 2003 when a mob came after her with sticks and rods for allegedly
using occult. Grievously injured, she was admitted into the intensive care unit
(ICU) at Jaipur's
Just like Vimla,
Ganeshbai, 70, of Nandeshma village in
Even as a large crowd
gathered, no one came forward to help her. In the evening, her son Navneet took
her to the Sayra police station to lodge a complaint, but the police
'engineered' a compromise. Only when the National Commission for Women (NCW)
stepped in did the police bother to arrest four people, including two women,
for their outrageous acts.
Vimla Devi and
Ganeshbai are not the only women in Rajasthan who are paying the price for
being branded witches. In many districts in the state -
Socially ostracised,
they cannot participate in auspicious occasions, move freely, and take up work,
not even under the state-run Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Act (MGNREGA). In fact, even the families of such women are forced to live like
pariahs. Most victims do not lodge police complaints even after violent attacks
for fear of retaliation, and have no choice but to continue living amidst their
tormentors.
Once labelled a
witch, the woman cannot escape the stigma for life. Between 2004 and 2009, as
many as 137 women accused of witchcraft were killed in violent acts. However,
civil society organisations working with the victims of witch hunting suspect
the figures to be much higher than reported.
In order to put a
stop to this extreme form of violence against women, the Rajasthan State Women Commission
(RSWC) drew up a draft bill - the Rajasthan Prevention of Witch (Dayan)
Practices Bill - and sent it to the state government in 2006. But over all
these years there has been no action on it. Recently, some women activists met
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to demand, for starters, at least a ban on the use
of words like 'dayan' in the state, until the government enacts a law. But
Rajasthan Home Minister Shanti Dhariwal, who also handles the Law Department,
gave a disappointing reply. The law, he told them, would create more problems
in the village system than offer solutions.
"Like the
minister," says Kanchan Mathur, a professor at the Jaipur-based
To fill the gap
caused by a non-existent law, the Rajasthan Home Department, in 2004, had
issued a circular for speedy action in matters relating to atrocities against
women, especially those involving the execution and prosecution of women deemed
as witches. According to this circular, if an incident of witch hunting was
reported, the respective circle office, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, was
to be held responsible. The order also said that high-ranking police officers
should routinely review investigations into such cases.
"But," says
Nisha Sidhu, the Rajasthan General Secretary of NFIW, "most policemen are
not aware of this. And more often than not, the cases are registered under IPC
sections related to causing hurt and rioting (use of force or violence by an
unlawful assembly)."
But the law aside,
witch hunting needs to be tackled socially. Kavita Srivastava, General
Secretary, Public Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), pins the blame for it on
superstition, linked in turn to the lack of healthcare facilities, giving
village sorcerers an easy opportunity to brand a woman a witch following the
death of a child because of untimely medical care. According to Srivastava, a
woman can be branded a witch for just about any reason - if she happens to be
assertive, or rejects the sexual advances of someone.
If Rajasthan enacts a
law against prosecution of women labelled as witches, it will become the fourth
state in
As per the draft bill
lying with the government, a crime would be considered to have been committed
when any person or community intentionally or inadvertently abets, conspires,
aids and instigates the identification of a woman as a witch, leading to her
mental and physical torture and humiliation. It advocates severe punishment for
the guilty: If a woman commits suicide after being called a witch, the accused
shall be sentenced to not less than five years in jail, which can be extended
to 10 years. They can also be fined.
According to Draupadi
Malik, Secretary, RSWC, many reminders have been sent to the government to work
on the draft law but to no avail. "Initially, the matter was referred to
the Law Department for legal opinion, but after that we lost track of it,"
she says.
The need of the hour
is not just an Act against this medieval practice and action against the
barbaric execution of hapless women, but government support to women victims,
especially those who have no family or community support, so that they are
properly rehabilitated. In addition, the state needs to launch public education
interventions against a practice that is a blot on Rajasthan.