USA TODAY International Edition
Witch hunts in India real — and deadly
BHILWARA, India – “Going on a witch hunt” is a custom many in India observe — and for those hunted, it can be deadly.
Ask Ramkanya Devi, 80, who lives in fear three months after a young neighbor branded her a witch.
“I don’t trust anyone anymore,” Devi said in the shack she shares with her husband of more than 60 years in this western Indian village. “I’m still scared they might kill me if they catch me alone.”
Stories such as Devi’s are common across India, even though the state of Rajasthan, where Devi lives, outlawed branding people as witches in 2015, and other states adopted similar laws.
Nearly 2,000 people across India, mostly women, were killed for alleged witchcraft from 2005 to 2015, the most recent numbers available from India’s National Crime Records Bureau.
Devi, who has lived here her whole life, has been a midwife to many women, and her husband and two sons run small barbershops.
Upon falling ill, a schoolgirl went to the village bhopa, a self-proclaimed sorcerer with powers to heal, bring good fortune, conjure up voodoo and identify witches. He convinced the girl’s family she was a victim of witchcraft, and she named Devi as the witch.
That led to death threats, so Devi’s family kept her locked in a musty brick storage room — where she spent 18 days in the dark before an activist arranged for her rescue. “She was crying and kept saying, ‘I’m not a witch. I’m not a witch. Don’t kill me,’ ” said Tara Ahluwalia, who has fought to protect women from witch hunts since 1986.
Bhilwara Police Superintendent Pradeep Sharma said bhopas are at the root of the problem.
“Bhopas are a very widespread social evil,” Sharma said. “People go to these bhopas for a number of problems, mostly to cure their illnesses . ... They call spirits and try to remove spirits. It’s something like voodoo.”
Ajay Kumar Jain, a lawyer who petitioned for protections against witch hunts, said, “Branding a woman as a witch is itself a serious offense, punishable with up to five years of rigorous imprisonment.”
Thirteen victims of witch hunts have received compensation of $750 to $3,000 from the state government, but no one has been convicted in the 86 cases.