…. Villagers kill old man suspecting sorcery practice in Ganjam
Berhampur: In the age of science, still people believe in superstition and sorcery. When the people are killed due to the suspicion of sorcery practice, spontaneously a question comes into the mind that why not this cases should not be examined thoroughly whether it has the truth or not!
The Government should try to clarify the suspicion of sorcery practice as an age old belief, otherwise impose ban on this practice, because every year people are dying for this reason. In Ganjam, it is very often, the heinous attacks on these people without lodging complain against the person in the police station.
Recently, an old man Ganapati Das (60) is killed by 15 villagers on this Sunday. It is happened in a Harijana village under Kodala police station of Ganjam. Before, the villagers were suspected that Ganapati was practicing sorcery in the village. So, they planned to kill the man, while he was going to take bath in the Jagatnala near the village. They succeeded in their plan. The old man breathed his last by the gang attack.
This is not the first case. Before, a person named Dinabandhu Swain (48) and his two sons were killed by the group of villagers of Lunipada under Gangapur police station of Ganjam in March 15 this year.
On May 25, two women were locked up by the villagers of Sangrampur village in Nilagiri of Balesore district suspecting witchcraft.
In February 1 this year, the Superstition over witchcraft has claimed three persons in Keonjhar district's Daitari and Telkoi police station area, they are Sambari Chattar (50) and her 40-year-old brother, Utsav Purty were axed to death while 55-year-old Kandiri Majhi of Koilisuta near Telkoi was beaten to death.
On May 10 this year, Gouri Murmu (17) chopped the head of her sister’s mother-in-law suspecting sorcery and then surrendered to the Bisoi police station of Mayurbhanj district with the chopped head. In the same month, two persons including a woman were killed by their relatives suspecting witchcraft in Bisoi and Karanjia police station areas of the district.
In April 2011, members of two families were paraded and force fed animal excreta after being accused of witch craft in Deogarh district’s Sunamunda village.
There are many cases of murder alleging sorcery happening in the state, but the cases are not coming to the light and not in the media. Killings in the districts of Balesore, Ganjam, Khurda, Sundergarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj have witnessed more cases of murder alleging sorcery.
According to a study by the Orissa Rationalists Society (ORS) at least 56 persons have been murdered across 21 districts in the name of superstition in 2010 alone.
Apart from that, the practice of “magic palanquins” techniques by the experienced and trained sorcery practitioners hired by the villagers to pick out the wicked witchcraft practitioners of the village. After pick out them by this technique, which can not be taken as true, the villagers punish them by shaving their head, breaking their teeth. Sometimes the villagers force them to eat human excreta with a huge amount of fine. If the persons accused by the village committee disobey their order, they kill them or isolate from the village.
This is a serious matter now days. It is a human rights violation, to kill someone. Without complaining at the police and complain at the court, the ruffians, superstitious persons are killing the persons is a serious offence.
The villagers have no right to take anyone’s life. It is the serious violation of the person’s fundamental right and Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which advocates about the right to life.
This is a social taboo like offering and sacrifices of human bodies. This sorcery killing is not less than honour killing of Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. To curb this social stigma an appropriate step is the need of hour, claims the rationalist bodies of Ganjam.
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