BLACK MAGIC COST DOUBLE OF RED VIOLENCE

BHUBANESWAR: Close on the heels of two persons getting killed in police firing in Ganjam district in a conflict over witchcraft, an organization promoting rational thinking said on Sunday 72 persons were murdered for practicing 'sorcery' in the state in 2011.

Odisha Rationalist Society (ORS), which computed the figure on the basis of its verification of media reports, said the actual number of deaths may be higher as all such incidents are not reported in the media.

The black magic death toll according to the ORS is over double the casualty of 33 caused by Maoist violence during the year. "Ten murders related to witchcraft have already taken place in 2012," ORS general secretary Debendra Sutar told reporters here.

The 2011 figure includes 17 murders in Mayurbhanj district, followed by 14 in Keonjhar, eight in Sundargarh and six in Rayagada, among other districts. "Independent verification of such incidents reveal that mostly helpless women, widowed or staying alone due to other reasons, are targeted by people who brand them as witches to get legitimacy of torturing them sexually or to usurp their property by killing them. If the victims are not killed, in many cases they are thrown away from villages or are ostracized," said ORS vice-chairman Pratap Kumar Rath.

ORS has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in Orissa high court seeking to set up special courts to try cases of superstition-related crimes and appoint special investigation teams to probe such cases. The organization also sought the court's intervention to undertake regular awareness campaign by involving students, teachers and NGOs, besides introducing human rights related subjects in school and college curriculums.

Sutar said Odisha has lagged behind other states in checking crimes in the name of witchcraft. Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have Witchcraft Acts to take action against such crimes.

Some residents of Phasiguda village under Kodala police station in Ganjam tonsured the heads of four persons and pulled out their teeth on March 31, accusing them of practicing witchcraft. The villagers resisted police attempt to rescue the four, following which police had to open fire, killing two. Besides, a woman was killed in Cuttack city recently for allegedly practicing witchcraft.