Do you know that hundreds of women in India are branded as witches and murdered in broad daylight by their own communities?
As per a UN Report 25,000 women were murdered in India in less than 16 years, between 1987-2003 in the name of witchcraft. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), approximately 2937 women were killed in India between 2001 and 2019 on suspicion of practicing witchcraft. In the year 2019 alone, 102 people were killed. However, since most states do not mention witchcraft as a motive for murder, the real number could be much higher. According to government figures, an Indian woman is killed every other day after being suspected of witchcraft. As per Odisha High Court in 2021 alone every month 4 women were murdered in the name of witchcraft.
These are under reported numbers, as India does not have a central legislation against witch-hunting and of the 17 states that face this problem only 5 have state specific legislations. Hence in most states police are unable to even cite witch-hunting as a motive for murder.
Witch hunting is a barbaric practice in many countries including India which involves the branding of victims, especially women as witches, usually after an observation is made by a witch doctor who is also known as ‘ojha’. The victim who is branded as a witch is subjected to numerous forms of torture, beatings, burns, paraded naked through the village, forced to eat human excreta and sometimes even raped. In some cases, their hair is cut off and the victim and their families are permanently socially ostracized and even put to death. These women are often widows or other socially disadvantaged women belonging to dalit or tribal communities who are made scapegoats for some kind of hardship that has befallen the community. Witch- hunting is a form of gender-based violence that violates women's rights and undermines their dignity. And like many other crimes against women, most of the victims of witch-hunting don't ever get justice as it is a community sanctioned atrocity.
‘Dahini’ (The Witch) a feature film in Hindi, based on ‘witch-hunting’ is a social thriller that focuses on exposing the multilayered conspiracy behind the heinous practice of witch-hunting. The story unfolds itself in the rustic rural milieu of Odisha and is a spine thrilling adventure of saving two women who are branded as ‘witches.
Starring award winning actors and technically supported by an acclaimed crew, the film is a never before bold take on a centuries old gendered form of violence aiming to challenge the collective conscience of the society.
Written and directed by National Award Winning Director Rajesh Touchriver the film is produced by renowned social activist and Padmashree Awardee
Sunitha Krishnan and well known film producer Pradeep Narayanan.
