7 Witch Hunting

Ms. Anju Borkotoky

Witch Hunting in Assam

The Phenomenon of Witch Hunting

What is meant by ‘witch’? The present meaning of ‘witch’ has a very remote relationship with the meaning of the word ‘witch’ of the past. According to Dr. Aparna Mahanta, a renowned writer and intellectual from Assam, originally the word ‘witch’ was used to mean wicca, a scientist woman, who would go to the jungle at night, to gather medicinal plants and with such herbs she would offer treatment to patients and cure them. But new medical knowledge became completely monopolised by males, so it became necessary for them to stand up against these wicca. At the same time this modern medical treatment was costlier for the poor, and they had to go to the local ‘Bez’. When such a ‘Bez’ or ‘Kabiraj’ was unable to cure the patient, then she/he was branded as a ‘witch’, about whom it was said that the patient had to succumb to death due to her. ‘Bez’ is the local doctor who gives treatment to the patient.

Usual causes

It is a general notion that the ‘witch’ is a woman. There are such cases in Kokrajhar, Goalpara districts. In Dhudhnoi of Goalpara district, in a village named Hatimura, a person Bedeswar Rabha was severely tortured. He was a very proud man and disliked by the villagers. His son started a shop and the son of the Mukhia of the village also opened a shop, they were rivals. Many villagers had fallen ill, the bez told people that there was a 13 headed demon who was obstructing the god of the village temple from entering the temple and that he was Bedeswar Rabha. So he was severely beaten in a meeting. Later Mission Birubala saved him, filed a case, and then brought them to a negotiation. Some people say that the practice of polygamy is also behind the phenomenon of ‘witch’ hunting, because when a man marries two or three women – one of them becomes the target of the others, as she is loved more by the husband. Padumi Rabha was the second wife of her husband. The third wife was a young girl, and after this marriage the husband stopped giving maintenance to Padumi. She had a child. Both Padumi and husband worshipped Siva. He always called her ‘witch’ whenever she protested against his attitude of neglect towards them. Taking the chance of an incident of a dead snake, carried by Padumi’s husband, it was kept in front of Padumi’s house. The husband, and even Padumi’s maternal family tortured her, she was forcefully sent out of the village while a woman Birubala Rabha saved her and now she is a member of the Mission.

Again, some say that with the spread of Christianity, those who influenced the people with so called ‘supernatural powers’ became wary of Christianity. At this juncture the Christian prophets were afraid of the influence of witches on common people. So, in order to restrict this influence, they began to propagate negative things regarding the activities of the so called ‘witches’.

In India, among the tribal people, where there is no existence of goddesses like Kalior Durga, people worship demons, the Devil or some negative supernatural powers. Their dependence on nature, fear of natural calamities, fear of disease, all lead them to worship such evil powers.

Witch hunting, in Assam, is branding a woman as ‘witch’ (daini) mostly by the local ‘Bez’ or ‘Kabiraj’, the local doctor. Usually, when the villagers approach a ‘bez’ with a chronic ailment, or for some suggestion or way to find out the cause of sudden death of any person or animal, the ‘ojha’ or “bez” identifies some woman as a ‘witch’ or ‘daini’. Then the villagers drag her out, torture her and she is often beaten to death; sometimes wrapped in fishing net and beaten to death and sometimes buried alive. In some states, the woman branded as’witch’ or ‘daini’ is paraded naked and even raped by mobs of village people, who are convinced of her evil powers. In a tea garden in Behali of Sonitpur district, Assam the family of Binanda Gaur was branded as ‘witch family’ and was attacked by a group of villagers. The mother and the daughter were dragged out to a ditch and were raped and killed. Tiku Orang, one of the arrested confessed. (Hindustan Times. 23-6-2011). In Odisha, a group of villagers assaulted and forced three people including two women –to walk naked through the village in November-2013 (Science and Religion-July Aug, 2014 by Ryan Shaffer). But most often those who lead such activities have vested interests. If by sheer luck, the victim manages to escape, she is ostracized from the village with a heavy fine being imposed, and is dispossessed of her property.

It is seen that though this practice was prevalent mostly in Bodo areas, yet with the passage of time, it has spread to other districts, and now such crimes are being reported from Kamrup, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Jorhat, Lakhimpur, Nawgaon, Bongaigaon, Dhemaji, Karbi Anglong districts. Such incidents occur in areas predominantly inhabited by the adivasis, the tribal people. According to SP Kokrajhar in Kokrajhar district alone 63 were murdered in the name of ‘witchs’ during the period 2001 to 2011.

History

In Assam and the North East, practising witchcraft or black magic dates back hundreds of years. Mayong was once known as the Indian Capital of Black Magic. Basically, the Assamese society has tribal roots. So some beliefs which prevailed in tribal society are still in existence. Such beliefs have become stronger with increasing social conflicts, and also as a result of the breakdown of old social ties and values, with the onset of globalization which has made people insecure.

In Assam, more than 500 people have been killed, and 116 official cases of witch killing have been registered since 2011 in the state. During the last few years many ‘witches’ have been beheaded and buried in the villages in at least 12 of the 27 districts of Assam. According to the CID, it had registered 10 cases in 2008, 29 in 2011, 14 in 2012 and 16 in 2013. According to the Assam Police sources, a total of 85 cases have been registered between 2011 and Feb 2014. Though it is seen that it is women who are mostly branded as ’witches’, yet in a few cases in Kokrajhar, Chirang and Baksa districts, males were branded as ‘witches’ too. In Assamese male witches are also called ‘Daini’ though the word is a feminine word.

Witch Hunting in other States:

This practice or belief is prevalent in other states of India also. In Jharkhand, in 2001, the Jharkhand government passed the ‘Dayan Pratha Unmoolan (Prevention of witch practice) Act. In Rajasthan also, this practice prevails, for which the Rajasthan government passed the Rajasthan Women’s Bill in 2012, which says that it is illegal to call a woman ‘a dayan’ accusing her of performing witchcraft that leads to harm.

In Odisha there are cases of witch hunting. Chattisgarh also passed the (Witchcraft Atrocities Prevention Act) in 2005 to stop such crimes. Tripura, where majority are Adavasi, has witnessed incidents of witch hunting. Laxmi Devi Burma, AIDWA activist from Tripura, campaigning for Left Front, was a tea garden worker; she was declared a witch by members of the Indigenous People Front of Tripura in collusion with other residents of the village, and was murdered. (Frontline –Nov-11-24, 2000), Article by T K Rajalakshmi.

In Andhra Pradesh, according to the government, in the last two years 147 such murders have taken place. In West Bengal also, in certain pockets Like Pachim Medhinipur, Dubrajpur village in Daspur area, Malda, Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum (The Telegraph 22/6/2011) such practices prevail. In Bijli and Tara village of Raipur district of Madhya Pradesh, in Gaandi, Pordha, Haripuri village of Ranchi district such incidents of witch killing and naked parading of women branded as witches have taken place. In Madhya Pradesh they are called ‘Tonahi’ (witch). In Bihar also, such a practice prevails among the tribal communities. People never consider it to be a crime to kill ‘witches’.

Reasons behind ‘witch’ killing:

i) ‘Bez’ or ‘Kaviraj’

In a society which has tribal roots, where prevails the worship of demons, witches, ghosts etc. people have tremendous faith in the ‘Bez’ or ‘Kaviraj’. Assam has been well-known since long for the practice of black magic. In Marigaon district, Mayong was, as mentioned above, once known as the Indian Capital of Black Magic. So the influence of such beliefs is still there among those who are illiterate. Just a day after eminent rationalist Narendra Dabholkar was shot dead in Pune last year; two people were killed in a remote village in Assam’s Kokrajhar district, allegedly by villagers, who suspected them of practising witchcraft.

ii) Economic Disparity

One of the major reasons behind witch hunting is economic disparity and neglect of health care as well as absence of a health care infrastructure. This lies behind the power as well as respect enjoyed by the ‘Bez’ or ‘Ojha’ in rural Assam, especially in the tribal-dominated areas. A large number of ‘Bez’ or ’Ojhas’ earn their livelihood by providing medication and health care to these illiterate villagers who are deprived of modern healthcare facilities and unaware of modern medicine. Specially, in the rainy season, the villagers suffer from malaria, cholera etc. and several epidemics result in mass deaths. Anyone who is seriously ill is taken to these ‘Bez’ or ‘Ojhas’. But in most of the cases the ‘Bez’ or ‘Ojha’ fails to cure the patient. The villagers become angry and accuse the ‘Bez’ to be responsible for the death, and it turns to severe punishment by branding them as witches. To save themselves from such accusations, the ‘Bez’ might brand some woman in the village as a ‘witch’.It is under the instruction of the ‘Bez’ that the destitute woman is beaten to death, burnt alive or buried.

iii) Land Mafia

Sometimes there are cases of killing of women, which are found to be acts of the Land Mafia. It has been found that all these cases are not incidents of witch hunting, rather they are acts committed with long-term planning by land mafia to grab land and property. Some people with vested interests use these social practices and superstitions to uproot families having land, on which they have set their eyes , so that the land can be acquired at a very low price, because, generally, people do not want to buy land which is known to have been owned by some ‘witch’. Garbo Murmoo, 55 and his wife Muni Hajda, 45, an adivasi couple of Gosaigaon sub-division of Kokrajhar district of Lower Assam were attacked on 18th October night of 2009. “Crime and Superstition – A spate of witch hunting assaults,” article by Ratna Bharali Talukdar 27/06/2010.

They were branded as a ‘witch couple’ and, while asleep, they were attacked brutally. Though they were thought to have been killed, fortunately they were rescued by BCF (Birsa Commando Force) local unit the next morning, and were taken to Kokrajhar Civil Hospital. They survived, but Muni’s face was disfigured and Garbo could not walk properly. The cause behind this attack was that since the ethnic clash of the 1990’s, they along with many others had been living in a relief camp. In 2006 most of the camp dwellers decided to return to their villages, where the atmosphere had become normal again. But Garbo decided to stay along with a few other inmates as it was easier for him to find a daily wage job near the camp. But the land mafia, who had an eye on the camp site, threatened them to leave the camp site. They challenged the land mafia and decided not to leave the place, so they were branded as ‘witches’, perhaps they thought it would also frighten the others in the camp site. In another case Brishnu Rabha and Purshee Rabha, who had crossed their sixties, of Rajapara village in Palashbari of Kamrup district were burnt alive by their fellow villagers in front of one of the couple’s sons, the other sons had fled away in fear. The couple had been involved in a land dispute with a neighbour Banti Rabha, who had committed suicide due to some unknown reason. Banti’s widow claimed that since her husband’s death she had begun to have nightmares. She accused the couple for this, and in front of a village court, the villagers branded them as witches and declared the punishment that they were to be burnt alive. “Crime and Superstition – A spate of witch hunting assaults,” article by Ratna Bharali Talukdar 27/06/2010.

iv)Internal Conflicts

Due to social transformation, changes have occurred among various tribes and such changes have given rise to some conflicts amongst themselves. There are some persons within every community who are regarded to be ‘wise’, who have tremendous influence over the common people. In order to keep their influence intact, they want people to be loyal to them, and for this, sometimes they take the help of ‘magical powers’. Dr. Indivar Deuri, a renowned thinker and intellectual, said in one of his books on this topic. “A Sauntal (Santhal) young girl, pointed out by the Sauntal witch, if refuses to join the witch group, she is threatened to be harmed with ‘Mantra’. Such a secret tradition still prevails. So some groups of vested interests try to fulfil their economic and political interests taking help of such beliefs– people’s faith on some supernatural power, and whosoever opposes such a conspiracy, is branded a ‘witch’. Brinda Karat, AIDWA vice president, gives the example of Subhadra Basumatary 40, a Bodo woman in Tilpara village of Goalpara district of Assam, mother of three sons and three daughters, who had the courage to denounce rituals conducted by the ‘Kaviraj’ or ‘Ojhas’ or witch doctors. She was attacked; she had thrice been branded as ‘witch’ as there had been three instances of a disease affecting people in the village. On the fourth occasion, her family members ganged up against her as she had demanded a share of her late father’s property. The people took the help of a local ‘Ojha’, she was declared a ‘witch’, was dragged out of her house at night, and beaten until dawn.

v) Psychiatric disorders

According to modern medical science, sometimes a person may suffer from such problems as hallucination. Also, people at times may suffer from psychiatric disorders, which can be cured by proper medical treatment. But due to lack of scientific knowledge, education and proper medical facilities, people take recourse to such superstitions as wearing ‘Maduli’ or ‘Tabij’, going to ‘bez’ etc for exorcism. In such remote areas people do not have proper facilities for education or development, having no proper means of communication, no electricity, no hospitals, and no schools. The doctors, even those who are deputed, never stay there. Medical treatment is too expensive for them as they have to travel a long way for treatment. Therefore, it must be admitted that the issue of development is quite an important factor behind acts of ‘witch’ hunting.

vi) Personal jealousy

There is often personal jealousy and rivalry behind such incidents. If a family becomes relatively wealthy and develops economically, with its sons and daughters being well established in various fields, a group of people become jealous of them and they instigate the illiterate, fear stricken poor villagers against them, taking chances by using some instances.

vii) Gender inequality and gender violence prevalent in our society is also a major cause behind witch hunting. As has been mentioned earlier the incident of branding of Subhadra Basamatary, a follower of the Communist ideology, began to protest against the unscientific ideas prevalent in society and dared to challenge them; this could not be tolerated by the male-dominated society and she was branded as a ’witch’ and tortured brutally.

viii) Unwanted attention from men

In another instance, it was found that a young widow was targeted by a few young boys of a remote village and they wanted to have a secret, illicit relationship with her, against which she protested and threatened to tell the villagers about this. The boys spread the rumour that she was a ‘witch’. She was attacked, but she joined the Birubala Mission, an NGO fighting against the practice of witch hunting.

Studies reveal that a practice like witch hunting has its roots among marginalized communities, deprived of development. Poor, illiterate people living in remote areas live a life greatly influenced by superstitions. Can we blame them, when we, even in the metro cities notice all around us well-to-do people, having high qualifications, running from temple to temple, wearing precious stones according to birth signs and observing fasts for a bright future, for safety, for a long life, for good results in examinations, for a good job etc. Poor people always blame their stars or fate for their poverty and depend on the blessings of numerous gods and goddesses for betterment in their lives. And it has already been mentioned that in such a society there are always some self-declared ‘wise’ men, ‘witch doctors’, ‘Bez’, ‘Kaviraj’, ‘Ojhas’ who govern the lives of common people.

Opposition to witch hunting:

Although witch hunting is an age-old practice in Assam and though it has become a serious issue since the nineties, there were not many organizations fighting against this. But the situation has become so critical now that quite a number of organizations have begun to raise their voices against it, to make people aware and to pressurize the government. ABSU (All Bodo Students Union), the apex student body of the Bodos, has launched a vigorous awareness campaign to fight against superstitions like ‘witch’ hunting in the Bodo areas. It has been campaigning since 2004, and since then, has successfully rehabilitated at least 40 innocent victims. The ‘Assam Mahila Samata Society’ has also been doing much work in this field. ‘Brothers’ is another NGO trying to raise a voice against such activities.

Intervention by the State

‘Project Prahari’ is a programme introduced by the police department of Assam in 2001 for the awareness of the people, but it did not come up actively on the issue till only a few months ago. Now, with the growing intensity of the problem, ‘Project Prahari’ is working seriously on the issue and is actively organizing people through awareness drives.

A woman crusader

Here, a name is worthy of being mentioned in the crusade against witch hunting; she is Birubala Rabha, from Thakurbila village in the Assam-Meghalaya border. She belongs to a very poor family. Her son was suffering from some ailments and the ‘bez’ told the mother that he would die soon. But she protested, took him to a hospital, and he recovered. She joined the “Assam Mahila Samata Society’ in 1999 and dedicated her life to the cause of fighting against this cruel practice. Through her initiative, 34 women, who had been branded ‘witches’ were saved. For her dedication, her name was nominated for Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Although she is illiterate, she is determined and very brave. Now, under her leadership, ‘Mission Birubala’ is working at the grass-root level and also forming cells in colleges for creating awareness among the common people.

There are some other NGOs also. Timely interference and proper investigation can save the situation from deteriorating. This has been proved by ‘Mission Birubala’ in a recent case of witch hunting in the river island of Majuli.

Law against witch hunting:

Strange to say, that though there are strict laws which have been formulated in different states, yet till now there is no such law in Assam. But the growing intensity of such criminal activities in the name of some beliefs has compelled the High court, also as a reaction to the PIL filed by a person, to instruct the government to take immediate steps for formulating laws against this practice and also to stop the activities of the ‘Bez’ or ‘Kaviraj’. The rate of conviction is quite low as there is the problem of getting witnesses.

The level of success so far:

Recently, an overall serious concern has been seen in the society. There are suggestions coming from people, and there are programmes for awareness etc. But the main demand remains thinking seriously about developmental work in such areas, providing education, modern medical facilities, etc. Now there are demands for mobile health clinics, regular health camps, good educational institutions, village meetings in all the villages, as well as meetings in the tea garden areas, incorporating workers, leading NGOs, garden school teachers and doctors to discuss the situation and to make future planning. There is also a demand for inclusion of chapters in the school curriculum against superstitions, and for developing a scientific outlook.

Conclusion:

While concluding, it must be said that a proper scientific outlook must be developed, and for this, the Government, various organizations, leading personalities, sane village elders, youth and women’s organizations of the marginalized communities as well as cultural organisations and film makers must come out and unitedly free the people of such ignorance. The growing threat of religious revivalism should also be kept in mind as one of the greatest hurdles to progress. At the same time, laws against this age-old practice should be formulated and implemented by the administration with due seriousness.

References:

• Article by Sujata Das: In the Name of the Witch – T. K. Rajalakshmi.
• Science and Religion – Ryan Shaffer.
• CRIME AND SUPERSTITION – Ratna Bharali Talukdar.