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Four Bodo women killed for ‘witch practice’ in Assam

Guwahati: A total of four killings took place in last four days in the district of Kokrajhar, Assam. Four women of Bodo community have been hacked to death in the district since April 15 and all the deaths are the result of the practice of witch hunting.
Purni Basumatari, 57, and Modani Basumatari, 55, were beaten to death in Belguri Guwabari village on April 15, and Bifula Narzary, 49, was killed in Bosabeel village the next day. According to media sources, a group in a fresh case of witch-hunting on the night last Sunday brutally killed a person with sharp weapons and the body was recovered this morning on the bank of Bholjhora river in Charaikhola area under Kokrajhar police station. The victim has been identified as one Sorak Narzary (50) of Samthaibari village. Earlier on January 1, a couple — Sarat Bindo Hazowary, 65, and Tapashree Hazowary, 52, — were killed in Habrubeel village of the same district.
Witch hunting is an evil practice where mostly a woman and her family are branded as witch and are either killed or evicted from their place of residence. The practice of witch hunting is prevalent among many communities in the state of Assam and mostly practiced among the Bodos, Rabhas, Adivasi communities and is gradually spreading to other communities.
Break down of health system together with illiteracy and superstitions among rural folk has resulted in rampant killing of women in the name of witches. In absence of proper health facilities, villagers in remote areas depend on sorcerers or local healers who promise to cure diseases by magic. As a result women become easy prey and their lives are endangered. It is also reported that presence of other criminal motives like depriving women of her inheritance rights or property is sometime a hidden agenda behind carrying out such ‘witch hunting’.

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