JHARKHAND MIRROR

By Gladson Dungdung

21 March, 2009

At the beginning of 2009, one more Adivasi woman was killed in the name of witch-hunting in Jharkhand. 45 year old Sukhmani Barla of Arhara village of Kamdara block near Ranchi was chopped by her neighbour Bagda Munda alleging her of being a witch. Bagda Munda’s daughter Saniya Munda had been suffering from illness for last three years and finally she died on January 2. When Bagda Munda approached the Ojha (spirit healer) to know the reason of death, the Ojha informed him that his neighbour Sukhmani Munda has killed his daughter with her black magic. Finally, Bagda Munda chopped her with an axe and was thrown behind the bars for committing a heinous crime but he is not ashamed of his act.

The witch hunting is common among the Santhal, Ho, Munda, Oraon and Kharia Adivasis. Witch-hunting is a frightening phenomenon, which is on the increase in recent years in Adivasi dominated villages in the states of Jharkhand, holding police records of 984 women being killed in 19 districts since 1991 to 2008. Among them 242 women were killed in Ranchi district, 178 in West Singhbhum, 60 in East Singhbhum, 34 in Saraikela-Kharsawan, 127 in Lohardaga, 100 in Gumla, 39 in Simdega, 60 in Palamu, 18 in Garhwa, 10 in Chatra, 15 in Hazaribagh, 16 in Koderma, 15 in Giridih, 6 in Dhanbad, 12 in Bokaro, 16 in Deoghar, 11 in Dumka, 14 in Sahebganj and 11 women were killed in Godda district respectively. Read more…

By Gladson Dungdung

Combat Law

September – October 2004

It was a horrible night for Somri Hansda a sixty-year-old widow and Vahamay Kiskoo (40) of Mahuwasol village of Godda district in Jharkhand. They were killed by their own people… even Vahamay Kiskoo’s husband Parchana Tuddu had done nothing except filing a FIR. That night the villagers were happy because they had punished the ‘Dayans’ (witches). Instead of hue or cry the villagers applauded and danced till the two women (witches) breathed their last and their bodies were consigned to flames. It is the end of imagination. It is unbelievable and horrible. It is not a film script or fiction, not even a story from textbooks. It is a real life story of two Adivasi women. Adivasi women face such heinous forms of violence in each and every walk of their lives in their societies.

The miserable deaths of Somri Hansda and Vahamay Kiskoo began with villager Anant Tuddu’s suffering, from fever, headache and dysentery. Anant’s nine-year-old daughter, Sukhni dreamt that Vahamay and Somri were eating her father’s ‘Kaleja’ (heart). Sukhni narrated the dream to the villagers. The villagers called a meeting of the Panchayat on the night of 1st July 2003, which was attended by 250 people. Vahamay and Somri were dragged out of their homes and produced before the Panchayat. Murli Soren and Mahadev Tuddu acting as the ‘Panchs’ pronounced them witches. Consequently, the women were beaten to death by a group of 60 villagers and burnt down to ashes. Read more…