An NGO 'Free Legal Aid Committee' (FLAC), which has been spearheading movement against superstitions particularly witchcraft in the state for over last two decades, today demanded identification of tribal-populated villages affected by the menace for development as Smart Villages.
"The union and state governments have launched various schemes for the development of the villages. We'll appreciate if the governments will identify the witchcraft affected tribal villages not only in Jharkhand but other states and develop them as Smart Villages to get rid of the menace," FLAC Chairman Premji said.
This should begin from Kanjiya village where five women were hacked to death allegedly for practicing the black magic two days ahead of the World Indigenous Day observed on August 9 last, Premji told PTI.
In an attempt to focus mainly on the issue of incidents related to witchcraft, Premji said Flac had constituted a branch named 'Andhviswas Unmulan Mission' (AUM) to address the problem.
The objective of AUM was to involve all stake holders including government, corporate, educational institution, media and launch a vigorous awareness campaign to deal with the issue, which had claimed over 1200 lives in Jharkhand even after the government had formed an Witchcraft Prevention Act, 2001, he said.
The government had admitted that around 800 women were butchered allegedly for practicing black magic since the law enacted in 2001 but in fact, the figure was more than double as per the records of FLAC.
The Act was aimed at preventing the superstition-related killings, but it had never been implemented in letter and spirt, he alleged.
About 15 states of the country including Jharkhand were affected by the menace and women mostly widows were being branded as witch and eliminated to grab their property or settle personal score, he said.
