NEW DELHI: At least four persons, including three were branded as witches or warlocks and then brutally murdered in Jharkhand, an eastern Indian state of Jharkhand which has a significant population of animists. The practice of witchcraft is widespread in the remote villages of Jharkhand and according to the police, these killings were due to witchcraft diktats, which demand that women branded as witches should be killed by slitting their throats. Sushil Oraon and Jhibi Oraon of Lawagai village were the first victims and their throats were slit on March 10. Less than a month later, Budhva Mahali had his head severed while his wife Etwari was also killed at Hastala village. So widespread is the practice of witchcraft that a recent survey found that as many as 1,157 murders were committed in the 20 years between 1991 and 2010 due to this evil practice. The government enacted a new law in 2001 to check the crime but it has hardly helped. The Jharkhand Dayan Pratha (witchcraft) Act has been unable to deter the evil practice and general single women and widows whose families have no males fall victims. Government sources say usurping the properties of the victims appears to be the motive behind most such killings. Jharkhand State has spent $ 40,000 this year to create awareness against the evil practice, according to its Social Welfare Minister, Bimla Pradhan. Superstition is the basis of witchcraft and Pradhan felt awareness was paramount in the fight to weed out the belief in the practice. In Jharkhand, at least one murder due to witchcraft takes place every month. Other northern Indian states like Rajasthan have also seen instances of witchcraft in the recent past.
