In 2018, a total of 26 cases of witch hunting deaths were reported in the State, which is the lowest in last five years. The monthly crime records on Jharkhand police website shows that in 2018, there has been over 35 per cent reduction in the cases of witch hunting deaths reported in Jharkhand as compared to 41 cases in 2017.

The data of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows that in 2014, the number of witch hunting death cases was 47, which reduced to 32 in 2015 and 27 in 2016.

The NCRB data further shows that Jharkhand has been at the top in country for four consecutive years, 2013 to 2016 when it comes to witch hunting deaths. Also after its formation in November 2000, the State has always been among the top three states to report the highest cases of witch hunting deaths, since year 2001.

Women and child development Minister Louis Marandi said, “After the Mandar witch hunting case of 2015, wherein five women were branded witches and lynched, a number of awareness drives were organised across the State, which has led to reduction of cases. We haven’t seen an extreme case like the one of Mandar ever since. Witch hunting being a social issue can be solved only by awareness.”

Chairperson of Jharkhand Women’s Commission, Kalyani Sharan informed that there indeed has been a reduction in the number of witch hunting cases. “We ourselves take suo moto cognizance if we get information about a case of witch hunting. If needed, we also visit the spot. Some of the most affected areas in the State are Giridih, West Singhbhum, Gumla, Khunti and outskirts of Ranchi,” she said. Highlighting the reasons behind witch hunting, Sharan said that superstition is a major reason. “The people here are still superstitious about such things. If a person dies in the neighbourhood due to sickness, some poor woman is blamed for witchcraft and attacked,” she said.

However, a bigger agenda behind such cases is land grabbing. “When a woman’s husband dies and leaves behind a huge property, the family members itself start accusing the widow of witchcraft to take over her property,” Sharan said.

ADG CID, Jharkhand Police, Ajay Kumar Singh said that awareness among villagers as well as initiatives of local police has lead to the reduction in number of  cases.

“Social organisations working at village level along with the local police have been organising awareness drives which have lead to reduction of the cases. Also, the police is registering such cases seriously and taking prompt action which has deterred people from branding people witches and harassing them,” he said.

Ajay Jaiswal, secretary of the Association for Social and Human Awareness (ASHA) which works against witch hunting in remote villages of the state said that now the awareness at village level has increased and people now openly talk about such issues at gram sabhas and panchayats. “We have taken up initiative in 10 villages in Khunti and Saraikela where we are spread awareness against people using the word Dain (witch) even in passing reference,” he said.

However, Jaiswal has objected strongly against television serials spreading the superstition of Dain Bisahi Pratha (witch hunting practices) in rural areas. “Every person in rural area has access to television and serials focusing on superstitious issues like black magic and witches leave a huge impact on society. We have noticed women sit and discuss such programmes during their free time, believing what they see on the TV.”

Jaiswal said that he, along with women who have been branded witches in their villages, will be filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Jharkhand High Court against such serials.