Singho Murmu (50), a widow of tribal Dighi village in Mayurbhanj district, was strangulated to death and later, beheaded and her arms and legs chopped. She was killed for practicing sorcery.
On August 16, 2015, Sundar Murmu and his elder brother Fakir Murmu killed Singho while she was alone in her house. later, they packed the body in a gunny bag and carried it on a bicycle to a nearby hill. There they beheaded her, besides slashing her hands and legs so that the body was eaten by wild animals.
When Sunder’s 11- year- old daughter, Sami, died of malaria, both Sunder and his brother believed that it was the fallout of witchcraft practiced by the widow. later, the Rairangpur police arrested both the accused and booked them.
Three years ago, Hemla Malma, a 55-year-old widow had to leave her Gudi Ambaguda village in Koraput district as the villagers tortured her for practicing witchcraft. She has now taken shelter in a neighbouring village after the intervention of police. Hemla, after her husband’s death a decade ago, used to stitch Sal leave plates and sell them in market to earn her livelihood. She had a piece of land but she was unable to till it and had given a part of the land for sharecropping to her elder nephew, Kushan. But he had other plans in mind and wanted to grab the whole land. He convinced her to sell the land to him. After much dilly-dallying, Helma agreed to sell her land to Kushan. He paid her a paltry amount and assured her to pay later.
But he did not pay the full amount. Tired of asking him repeatedly for the money, she appealed to Gram Sabha which directed Kushan to pay the rest amount to Hemla. Angry over this issue, Kushan wanted to teach her a lesson. He started torturing her and spread the rumour that Helma practices witchcraft and she is responsible for all the crop loss, fever, health problem and death in the village. The illiterate villagers believed in the rumour and started torturing her both verbally and physically. later, they called a “Gunia” (witch doctor) who allegedly confirmed Helma to be practicing witchcraft. Consequently, the villagers threw her out of the village.
Singho Murmu and Hemla Malma are not the only victims of facing inhuman torture and death on the false charges of practicing witchcraft. There are a number of women in remote villages of tribal-dominated districts of Odisha, who are tortured, harassed and sometimes thrown out of the village on such flimsy charges. It is a systematic or one can say a well-organised violence against women (mostly single) to take away their property or get sexual favour. If they disagree with it, they are harassed over practicing witchcraft and made responsible of all ill things happening in the village, says Action Aid, programme officer BN Durga. He adds Odisha has witnessed a steady rise in witch-hunting practices some of which come to the light and some remain hidden in the communities. Unequal social structure and gender inequality remain the structural cause of witch hunting practices. “To create awareness among the villagers of tribal Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Sundergarh, Koraput and Malkangiri districts, we are seriously intervening in this matter for the last two years. The rights of women should not be violated by branding them as witches,” he said.
Due to superstition, many such cases are occurring in the remote and tribal areas of the State. Women who are single, widow or separated are prone to such crime, says social worker Subhashree Ray. Subhashree, who has been working in Sundergarh district for the last 23 years to create awareness among the mass against this superstition, says in these parts of the State it is difficult to convince people against superstition.
“Once a woman in a village is labeled as practicing witchcraft, it becomes very difficult on her part to survive. The inhuman torture she has to face is difficult to express. Sometimes to punish her, her villagers hurl all kinds of torture and humiliation against her. She is beaten, paraded naked around village, tonsured, her face blackened and if that does not satisfy them, they force her to eat human excreta. Though it is unbelievable, but this practice is still prevailing in most of the villages,” says CYSD programme manager Kalpana Mohapatra.
According to the status given in the study of Odisha Rationalists Society, 152 people were killed between 2010 and 2012. Witch-hunting casualties are on the rise across the State as 56 persons are killed in 2010, 72 in 2011 and 24 in 2012. According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau, Odisha saw 177 murders for witchcraft during this period from 2008 to 2013. Under culpable homicide not amounting to murder, Odisha accounted for 75 per cent cases due to witchcraft.
Till date, many activists and concerned citizens have raised voice against this violence but all in vain. Social worker Subhashree reacts, “Mentality of people in these tribal-dominated areas is as it was in two-decade ago. If they suffer from any disease like malaria or diarrhoea they attribute it to be the handiwork of one or the other neighbourhood widow. To eradicate this needs regular awareness programme by the Government and social activists.”
State Rationalists Society secretary Debendra Sutar says, “Before accusing people in remote villages we need to emphasize on their problems and the reason behind it. People of these tribal dominated districts are deprived of basic facilities like education and health services. Poverty, illiteracy and unavailability of health services force them to believe in this superstition. The only solution to this problem is creating awareness in regular intervals”.
Only one forum cannot help in minimizing incidents; rather it is the duty of different forums and stakeholders to work together to prevent such incidents of violence against women, said Sashiprabha Bindhani, activist and one of the persons who filed PIl for bringing Witchcraft Hunting Act -2013 into reality.