Witch Hunting Tales: Horror in Odisha Hinterlands
It’s hard to believe that in this age of smartphones, SUVs and glitzy malls, the barbaric medieval practise of witch hunting goes unabated in many parts of the state, particularly in the rural belts. Witch hunting, a gory legacy of a patriarchal mindset, is particularly targeted against women, most often by those with vested interests. It’s rampant in Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Ganjam, Mayurbhanj, Rayagada, Gajapati, Ganjam, and Koraput districts.
In a bid to join the fight against witch hunting and rehabilitate the victims, MCL is kicking off a campaign from Keonjhar, with the first report on a couple— Bamia Pradhan and his wife Gangi Pradhan—who were accused of witchcraft and hacked to death at Rangamatia in the district.
Murders Most Foul
“They hacked my father and mother with axes in front of my eyes. My siblings were injured in the attack. We were helpless as they tortured and abused us for being ‘the children of witches’,” recounts Somnath Pradhan, the orphaned son of Bamia and Gangi of Rangamatia village in Keonjhar.
Bamia and Gangi had to pay with their lives after being implicated as witches by their fellow villagers. Unfortunately, such horrific killings are not uncommon among Dalit and Adivasi communities in Keonjhar.
It had all started when the uncle of a certain Raya Hembram fell ill in July 2017. The family took the sick man to a local ‘Gunia’ (quack) for treatment. As the sick man did not recover, villagers started accusing his neighbours, Bamia and Gangi, of casting an evil spell.
Matters came to a head when the man died a month later on the day of Rakhi Purnima on 7 August. As is customary, Bamia and his wife went to the funeral of their neighbour. Being from the same community, they thought it was their duty to attend the last rites, unaware that they too would be dead a few hours later.
“Everything was normal that night. We were sleeping inside our mud hut. Suddenly, four or five men armed with axes barged in. They abused my parents in filthy language, called them witches and then started attacking them. My parents did not even get the opportunity to scream for help. The attackers went on till my parents lay lifeless in pools of blood. They also attacked my brother, Mangal, and sister Sumitra,” recalls Somnath.
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“I did not understand what was happening. Our lives had changed within a few minutes. My sister lost her mental balance after the incident,” he adds with tears rolling down his eyes.
The grief stricken boy is still trying to come to grips with the incident. “My parents had a good reputation and shared cordial relations with everyone in the village. I had seen them helping other villagers on many occasions. Then, why were they killed in such a manner?”
Three villagers—Mangal Singh, Satri Pradhan and Raya Hembram—were arrested for their alleged involvement in the killings. But that is hardly any consolation for the destitute kids.
“The government has provided us a house under Indira Awas Yojana. But that is not enough for us. Though the villagers did not ostracise us, we live in constant fear. The government should do something for our rehabilitation,” he pleads.
What Is The Govt Doing?
“We are trying our best to eradicate witch hunting from Keonjhar. We have been organising many awareness programmes. Recently, one such drive was organised by IDEA in association with Action-Aid. We are ready to extend all kind of support to abolish such practices and help the victims,” Zilla Parishad chairman Kamalini Patra informs MCL.
In the aftermath of the incident, enquiries revealed that Rangamatia village is a malaria prone area. Every year, many villagers die due to the disease. The uncle of Raya Hembram was also one such victim, who did not receive proper treatment and died of kidney failure.
Activists at the forefront of the fight against witch hunting blame illiteracy and lack of proper healthcare for the menace. Secretary of Odisha Rationalist Society Debendra Sutar says, “The term witch is only a myth. These poor people are steeped in superstition because they are uneducated and don’t have proper healthcare. Unless we provide them with these basic facilities, the situation will not improve.”
Sorry State Of Affairs
And the situation is certainly far from improving. Even as we proudly proclaim ourselves to be citizens of “Digital India”, the archaic and inhuman practice of witch hunting goes unabated in several states of the country, including Odisha. And the statistics make for a chilling study. According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 177 people were killed due to witchcraft and related crimes from 2008 to 2013. On a national perspective, Odisha has the dubious distinction of being ranked second after Jharkhand in cases related to witch hunting. The NCRB data further reveals that in 2015, as many as 26 people were murdered in Odisha for allegedly practising witchcraft. And the numbers have gone up since then. In 2017, Odisha reported 99 cases of witch hunting, compared to 83 in 2016 and 58 in 2015. But unfortunately, many others go unreported and escape public glare.
Women Bear The Brunt
Violence against women still exists in different forms in our society. And witch hunting is one of the most atrocious and cruel practices that have been going on for centuries. Women are the usual scapegoats for all the evil legacies of a patriarchal society. The women accused of witchcraft by kangaroo courts are often paraded naked and many are brutally murdered as “punishment”.
Unfair social structures and gender inequality along with poor healthcare and illiteracy remain the root causes of this barbaric practice. As a result, women, particularly those belonging to Dalit and Adivasi communities, bear the brunt of all exploitations and cruelty. Men too are targeted in witch hunting cases, but their numbers are negligible compared to women. In addition to violence and even murder, the family of a “witch” is boycotted by villagers. Women members are severely discriminated within the family itself. Women who behave differently due to mental health issues, are particularly vulnerable.
In most cases, the suspected witches are killed by their neighbours. Earlier, witchcraft was perceived as a superstition. Recent studies, however, reveal a more chilling fact. They report that this act of branding women as witches is due to the victims’ refusal to relinquish their rights. In many cases, single women, widows or those divorced are the soft targets because they lack strong social and family support. And even law seems to have given the victims a raw deal.
Law Lacks Enough Teeth
Notwithstanding a number of legal provisions to curb witch hunts, the toll shows an upward trend with every passing day. In order to control the vicious practise, the state government had introduced the “Odisha Prevention of Witch Hunting Bill, 2013”. The Bill defines witch hunting as an act of omission, commission or conduct on the part of any person, identifying, accusing or defaming a woman as a witch or harassing, harming or injuring such a woman whether mentally or physically or damaging her property. This Act was supposed to empower the government to launch mass awareness programmes against blind beliefs in the districts particularly plagued by witch hunting.
But if one goes by ground realities, this law has proved ineffective in assuaging the sufferings of the victims or getting them justice. Meanwhile, the torture and killings seem to have a familiar pattern—the influential people of a village brand a woman as a witch or sorcerer for their own vested interest. The accused women are often paraded naked and subjected to other atrocities. Often, people get provoked to the point of killing the accused as it happened with Bamia and Gangi of Rangamatia in Keonjhar. Lest we forget!