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Magazine: Meet the Indian women hunted as witches
In remote parts of India, women branded witches are still being abused, tortured and murdered.
Baba Tamim | 05 Jun 2015 09:36 GMT | Human Rights, Asia, India
Bahura Bai says: "I keep praying and asking my goddess 'what is my crime?'" [Baba Tamim]
For 40-year-old Bahura Bai it began as these things often do in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. First, a village girl she had affectionately caressed in the marketplace fell sick. Then, a year later, her brother-in-law developed an ailment.
That was all it took for some local shamans and village leaders to brand Bai a witch. The threats and abuse from her family and community began instantly.
"It got worse in November last year, when my brother-in-law and other relatives attempted to choke me," she explains from inside her mud and brick home. "They want to kill me. They believe I'm a sorcerer. In prayers, I ask my goddess every morning, 'am I really?'''
"If my sister-in-law had her way she would love to burn me alive. My nephew wants to cut me into small pieces. Only my husband supports me," she continues, before urging me to leave in case my presence angers the villagers and inspires reprisals.
"The village heads don't want the police or media meddling. They say it's an internal affair of the village," she explains.
Drooping branches and bags of rice
Recently, family members of a 55-year-old woman beat her to death in the Bemetara district of Chhattisgarh for practicing 'black magic'. Activists say she was pulled by her hair, dragged naked through the streets and had chili powder sprinkled onto her face and genitals until she died.
Thousands of women across India have been abused, tortured and even executed after being accused of being a witch. But Chhattisgarh - where a decades-old conflict between Maoist rebels and the state has uprooted tribal societies riddled with misogynistic violence and superstition - is particularly deadly.
If my sister-in-law had her way she would love to burn me alive. My nephew wants to cut me into small pieces. Only my husband supports me
Bahura Bai
Between 2001 and 2013, there were 1,500 witch trials here and 210 associated murders.
But this is a crime that extends beyond this troubled place.
The Indian government's latest figures suggest that, between 2000 and 2012, some 2,100 people, mostly women, were killed across the country after being accused of practicing witchcraft. But rights groups suggest the number could be higher as many of the victims' families refuse to lodge an official complaint and some deaths simply go unreported.
Those cases often get addressed at village level, within illegal village courts that refuse to involve the police because doing so might undermine their authority.
In remote parts of the country, these courts and village heads are often left alone to ignore the state's Witchcraft Atrocities (Prevention) Act 2005, which criminalises the persecution of women over allegations of witchcraft.
In Chhattisgarh's neighbouring state, Jharkhand, officials say at least 414 people were murdered between 2001 and 2013 after being accused of being witches or sorcerers. Other India states have reported similar cases.
A family member's illness, crop failure or a dry well are all common reasons for accusing a woman of witchcraft. These allegations might be made by relatives, neigbours, village leaders or local shamans, and childless, unmarried or widowed women are particularly vulnerable to them.
Once a rumour has spread, local men armed with sticks and axes will often hunt down the woman and lynch her.
It has even been known for people to employ a shaman to identify a witch responsible for the deaths of their cattle. The shaman, who supposedly uses white magic, will carve the names of local women of a certain age onto the branches of a Sal tree. The branch that droops is believed to bear the name of the witch.
Another method sees a shaman wrap up grains of rice in small bags, each with the name of a different woman written on it. The bags are then placed in a nest of white ants. The bag from which most rice is eaten is declared to be the one identifying the witch.
The death business
"Interestingly, only women are blamed for witchery," says Sita Devi, who heads a small coalition of women who have been accused of witchcraft in Mandir Hasaud.
"This discrimination starts at birth. For example, when a baby boy is born the villagers celebrate by bursting three crackers. And when a girl is born only two crackers are fired," she explains.
"There is a lot of caste consciousness and illiteracy in these villages and an ojha [a witch doctor or shaman] takes benefit of it by targeting these underprivileged women. Getting a woman killed has become a business for the fake god men and witch doctors."
Male villagers are reluctant to talk to outsiders about it, but one tells me: "Women can turn into witches to avenge someone who has done them bad in the past."
"I have seen a woman turning to a witch and flying faster than a car. Even a powerful man will shiver before such an ugly woman. The ojhas are our last resort as the educated people don't listen to us."
"They [the witches] eat human flesh and drink human blood. That's what our elders have seen," he explains.
In 1995, when ophthalmologist Dr Dinesh Mishra saw a woman beaten to death and her body dragged through the streets by an angry mob, he decided to fight this oppression.
The social activist explains: "Local belief … is that a woman can curse someone by making them sick or making them lose financially by destroying their crops. They are even held responsible for a natural calamity. This thinking creates hatred against the women and hence this crime."
He believes that a lack of medical knowledge leads people to place their trust in the self-styled shamans who trick them in order to make money.
"The problem is widespread all over Chhattisgarh," he says. "I am aware of more than 1,200 cases of witch hunting and I believe the numbers are just 10 percent [of the real total] as most of … the women are afraid to launch reports or complaints or they are sure that their voices will never be heard."
"I also show magic tricks, which the witch doctors use to get the attention of the gullible villagers. I do all this to raise awareness and to tell villagers that witch doctors are tricking you. But their ancestral belief is so strong and any change in attitude will take time to happen."
Here some women branded as witches share their stories:
Magazine: Meet the Indian women hunted as witches - Al Jazeera English
A curse in the family - Al Jazeera English
In remote parts of India, women branded witches are still being abused, tortured and murdered.
Baba Tamim | 05 Jun 2015 09:36 GMT | Human Rights, Asia, India
Bahura Bai says: "I keep praying and asking my goddess 'what is my crime?'" [Baba Tamim]
For 40-year-old Bahura Bai it began as these things often do in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. First, a village girl she had affectionately caressed in the marketplace fell sick. Then, a year later, her brother-in-law developed an ailment.
That was all it took for some local shamans and village leaders to brand Bai a witch. The threats and abuse from her family and community began instantly.
"It got worse in November last year, when my brother-in-law and other relatives attempted to choke me," she explains from inside her mud and brick home. "They want to kill me. They believe I'm a sorcerer. In prayers, I ask my goddess every morning, 'am I really?'''
"If my sister-in-law had her way she would love to burn me alive. My nephew wants to cut me into small pieces. Only my husband supports me," she continues, before urging me to leave in case my presence angers the villagers and inspires reprisals.
"The village heads don't want the police or media meddling. They say it's an internal affair of the village," she explains.
Drooping branches and bags of rice
Recently, family members of a 55-year-old woman beat her to death in the Bemetara district of Chhattisgarh for practicing 'black magic'. Activists say she was pulled by her hair, dragged naked through the streets and had chili powder sprinkled onto her face and genitals until she died.
Thousands of women across India have been abused, tortured and even executed after being accused of being a witch. But Chhattisgarh - where a decades-old conflict between Maoist rebels and the state has uprooted tribal societies riddled with misogynistic violence and superstition - is particularly deadly.
If my sister-in-law had her way she would love to burn me alive. My nephew wants to cut me into small pieces. Only my husband supports me
Bahura Bai
Between 2001 and 2013, there were 1,500 witch trials here and 210 associated murders.
But this is a crime that extends beyond this troubled place.
The Indian government's latest figures suggest that, between 2000 and 2012, some 2,100 people, mostly women, were killed across the country after being accused of practicing witchcraft. But rights groups suggest the number could be higher as many of the victims' families refuse to lodge an official complaint and some deaths simply go unreported.
Those cases often get addressed at village level, within illegal village courts that refuse to involve the police because doing so might undermine their authority.
In remote parts of the country, these courts and village heads are often left alone to ignore the state's Witchcraft Atrocities (Prevention) Act 2005, which criminalises the persecution of women over allegations of witchcraft.
In Chhattisgarh's neighbouring state, Jharkhand, officials say at least 414 people were murdered between 2001 and 2013 after being accused of being witches or sorcerers. Other India states have reported similar cases.
A family member's illness, crop failure or a dry well are all common reasons for accusing a woman of witchcraft. These allegations might be made by relatives, neigbours, village leaders or local shamans, and childless, unmarried or widowed women are particularly vulnerable to them.
Once a rumour has spread, local men armed with sticks and axes will often hunt down the woman and lynch her.
It has even been known for people to employ a shaman to identify a witch responsible for the deaths of their cattle. The shaman, who supposedly uses white magic, will carve the names of local women of a certain age onto the branches of a Sal tree. The branch that droops is believed to bear the name of the witch.
Another method sees a shaman wrap up grains of rice in small bags, each with the name of a different woman written on it. The bags are then placed in a nest of white ants. The bag from which most rice is eaten is declared to be the one identifying the witch.
The death business
"Interestingly, only women are blamed for witchery," says Sita Devi, who heads a small coalition of women who have been accused of witchcraft in Mandir Hasaud.
"This discrimination starts at birth. For example, when a baby boy is born the villagers celebrate by bursting three crackers. And when a girl is born only two crackers are fired," she explains.
"There is a lot of caste consciousness and illiteracy in these villages and an ojha [a witch doctor or shaman] takes benefit of it by targeting these underprivileged women. Getting a woman killed has become a business for the fake god men and witch doctors."
Male villagers are reluctant to talk to outsiders about it, but one tells me: "Women can turn into witches to avenge someone who has done them bad in the past."
"I have seen a woman turning to a witch and flying faster than a car. Even a powerful man will shiver before such an ugly woman. The ojhas are our last resort as the educated people don't listen to us."
"They [the witches] eat human flesh and drink human blood. That's what our elders have seen," he explains.
In 1995, when ophthalmologist Dr Dinesh Mishra saw a woman beaten to death and her body dragged through the streets by an angry mob, he decided to fight this oppression.
The social activist explains: "Local belief … is that a woman can curse someone by making them sick or making them lose financially by destroying their crops. They are even held responsible for a natural calamity. This thinking creates hatred against the women and hence this crime."
He believes that a lack of medical knowledge leads people to place their trust in the self-styled shamans who trick them in order to make money.
"The problem is widespread all over Chhattisgarh," he says. "I am aware of more than 1,200 cases of witch hunting and I believe the numbers are just 10 percent [of the real total] as most of … the women are afraid to launch reports or complaints or they are sure that their voices will never be heard."
"I also show magic tricks, which the witch doctors use to get the attention of the gullible villagers. I do all this to raise awareness and to tell villagers that witch doctors are tricking you. But their ancestral belief is so strong and any change in attitude will take time to happen."
Here some women branded as witches share their stories:
Magazine: Meet the Indian women hunted as witches - Al Jazeera English
A curse in the family - Al Jazeera English
