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print versionby Anil Tiwari, 25 Jul 2022
EXCERPT FOLLOWS
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data 2019 shows that Madhya Pradesh (16) is the second-highest state for murders attributed to Witchcraft after Chattishgarh (22).
Ramlal Prajapati, 32, was a resident of the Beodhoa village of Rewa district. He had three daughters and sought a pledge from the goddess for a son. Last month his wife gave birth to a son — the vow required him to sacrifice a young man to the goddess, for whom he was looking for a boy.
“During police interrogation, he tried to mislead them. Later, he confessed, saying he had three daughters and always wanted a son,” said Naveen Tiwari, a sub-divisional officer of police, Sirmaur, Rewa.
He further explained that Ramlal had performed many rituals for the male child, but nothing had worked, “He was told by a Jharaiya (exorcist) that he must sacrifice a young man in order to have a boy.”
Killing in suspicion of Blackmagic
On May 13, Ravendra Singh, an 18-year-old labourer, killed his 60-year-old uncle, Lalbahadur Gaud, over suspected black magic and walked two kilometres in Sidhi district with his severed head and an axe in his hands.
Gaud was a well-known exorcist in his village and nearby area. Ravendra believed that 10 years ago his father died as a result of Tona performed by his uncle. Ravendra claimed that his uncle was using Tantra Mantra to make his family sick with various diseases, “I asked my uncle several times not to do so, but he was not ready to relent, so I killed him.”
It is not the first time that someone has been killed in Madhya Pradesh on suspicion of witchcraft. On May 16, three members of a tribal family, including a 12-year-old girl, were allegedly murdered in the Mandla district. The woman was beheaded and hanged from a tree in a field a kilometre away from her home. The murders were reportedly motivated by witchcraft suspicions.
According to the NCRB, between 2000 and 2016, more than 2,500 people, mostly women, were killed across the country on the basis of witchcraft.
People prefer Jharaiya over doctors
According to the Pew Research Centre survey 2020 on Indian religious practices, nearly 49 per cent of Indians believe in ghosts, angels, or benevolent spirits.
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