A shocking 100 per cent increase in witch-hunting cases was recorded in Jharkhand in 2023 compared to the previous year, exposing a severe governance and social crisis. This alarming statistic, from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), underscores the failure of existing laws and systemic issues plaguing tribal communities. The brutal beheading of a 65-year-old woman recently branded a witch in Jharkhand is a grim reminder that colonial-era beliefs and modern administrative failures are costing lives.
The Deadly Binary: Ojhas, Disease, and the 'Witch'
To understand witch-hunting, one must delve into the Adivasi perceptual world of illness and magic. In the Chota Nagpur region, the ojha (traditional healer) represents benevolent 'white magic,' while the dayan or witch is seen as the source of evil and black magic. Colonial records, like those of linguist P.O. Bodding and British officials Thomas Wilkinson and E.G. Man, noted that diseases were attributed to three causes: an angry deity (bonga), a restless spirit, or witchcraft. While the first two could be appeased, witchcraft was believed to require 'elimination.'
This archaic belief persists due to a critical modern failure: the lack of accessible healthcare. A 2021 study by the Odisha State Commission for Women and Action Aid Association found that health issues triggered over 70% of witch-branding incidents. When an ojha fails to cure an illness and no doctor is available, communities often scapegoat vulnerable women, typically older or those living alone, branding them witches.
Land Grabbing: The Economic Engine of Persecution
Beyond superstition, a more calculated motive drives many witch-hunting cases: property theft. Under prevailing Adivasi customary laws, women are systematically denied inheritance rights to land. A widow or daughter without a direct male heir becomes dependent on a male relative, who stands to inherit her property.
Branding such a woman a witch becomes a convenient tool to ostracize her, terrorize her, and forcibly evict her from the land. This economic exploitation is a stark reality behind the supernatural accusations, turning a rights issue into a life-or-death threat.
Failed Laws and a Nuanced Path Forward
Despite six Indian states, including Jharkhand in 2001, enacting Prevention of Witch Practices Acts, their strict provisions have yielded little progress. The laws exist, but enforcement and grassroots awareness remain weak. Compounding this is the proposed Uniform Civil Code's exemption for tribal communities, which, while aimed at preserving identity, perpetuates the denial of land rights to Adivasi women.
The solution demands a nuanced, multi-pronged approach. It requires robust healthcare infrastructure in remote areas to dismantle the superstition around disease. Simultaneously, legal reforms must secure land and inheritance rights for tribal women, removing the economic incentive for persecution. Public awareness campaigns and stricter law enforcement are non-negotiable. Without addressing these root causes—healthcare deficit and patriarchal property norms—the colonial understanding of witchcraft will continue to claim lives, proving old observations tragically correct.
