Ashwini Kumar Shukla

Author

Priti David

Editor

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The blows came fast and furious. Each one was accompanied by the same accusation, screamed over and over: “Dayan hai tu! Dayan karta hai. Ma@!$#*^#*d [You’re a witch! You practice witchcraft! Mo@!$#*^#*ker].”A month later, recounting the attack to this reporter, Kande’s voice still trembles with fear and anger. “They wouldn’t stop. I thought they were going to kill me.”In a desperate attempt to protect his family, Kande Laguri shouted at his children to run. “I pushed them [attackers] away and somehow managed to break free, and ran out through the back of the house.”But his relief was short-lived.

Kande is a resident of Ratanpada tola (hamlet) near <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://new.census.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/579/download/1964/DH_2011_2023_PART_B_DCHB_PASHCHIMI_SINGHBHUM.pdf">Tonto</a> village in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district, all residents belong to the Ho Adivasi community, listed as Scheduled Tribe in the state.The 31-year-old was married to Guruwari Devi, and the couple had four children.A smile playing on his face, Kande recalls asking his wife’s father for her hand in marriage. “He [father-in-law] agreed immediately even though I was short – both in age and height,” he says of the five-year age difference and his shorter height.The family work on three acres of land in Ratanpada hamlet, near Bandabera village where they grow paddy and maize in the kharif season, and wheat and mustard in the rabi season. But the marginal income from farming alone isn’t enough to run the household. So, both Kande and his wife worked as daily wage labourers whenever they got work. Kande also collects silk cocoons from the nearby forest in Tonto block, and sells them at the weekly haat (market).Their home, a two-room mud house with a big veranda, also has a chulha (fireplace for cooking). Silk cocoons hang from the door and two bicycles are propped against mud walls. Both Guruwari and her husband used them. A large neem tree stands at the entrance of the house, providing shade.In September last year (2024), the family was busy preparing for Jomnama Parab – a harvest festival celebrated by the Ho tribe in end-September. Tonto block is completely rural and the population of 49,862 (Census 2011) are all Adivasi (Scheduled Tribe).&nbsp; &nbsp;

The last few months, Kande, Guruwari and their children worked hard in the paddy field. After two consecutive droughts the family were hoping for a good harvest this year. For Jomnama Parab the family prepared the first harvest to thank spirits for a trouble-free harvest.Both the mother and daughter worked together for the festival. “Poora ghar humlog saath mein lipe the [we plastered the entire house together, with mud and cow dung],” says 12-year-old Seema Laguri, the eldest daughter among four siblings.According to Ho tradition, Kande had bought a new earthen pot in which to cook the newly harvested rice. The family ate the new rice cooked by Guruwari. In the village, people were drinking hadiya (alcohol made from rice) and dancing to the beat of the mannar (tribal drum). It was a festival and everyone was in a celebratory mood.The festival would go on for three days. On the morning of the fourth day Guruwari went to work. She rose early and the mother-daughter duo completed all the household work together – Seema swept the house while Guruwari tidied things and started cooking.“She had prepared rice along with saag [spinach] for the meal,” says Seema, speaking to PARI in the big, empty and quiet courtyard. “Then my mother went off to work, and we too left to harvest the paddy,” says Seema.

With Guruwari away, Kande was the only adult at home when the attackers arrived. He remembers the sun was blazing overhead as he sat in the shade in the open courtyard, when two men suddenly appeared and began attacking him. “They started shouting at me, hurling abuses at me, and before I could even react, they grabbed a wooden stick and began beating me,” he says.Injured, he managed to get away.Kande went to lodge a complaint about the attack with Banjo Laguri – the dakua of the village. The dakua serves as the village head’s assistant under the Munda-Manki tribal governance system. Here in West Singhbum, this system covers tribes in the area, including Ho and Munda and emerged during pre-colonial times, and remains in practice today.As he returned to his village with Banjo Laguri, he learnt that his wife had been murdered on suspicion of witchcraft. And after stabbing Guruwari Devi they had come after Kande. He had had no idea.“Agar hum jaante ki woh log maar diya hai hamaari biwi ko, toh hum unko jinda nahin chhodte…If I had known they have killed my wife, I would never have let them live]," says Kande, his voice breaking, tears streaming down his face.The 36-year-old farmer, mother and wife had been brutally murdered while working in the fields. Her death on September 19, 2024, fell on a Thursday – guruwar – the same day of the week she was named after.

All night Guruwari’s body lay in the field. “Her throat was swollen, and her chest bore two stab wounds from a knife,” Kande said. The murder, in broad daylight, shocked the village of Ho tribals. It was the first case of dayan hatya (killing of witches) in this remote village.But chillingly, it is not an isolated one.In 2021, in response to a query in the Vidhan Sabha (state assembly), the Government of Jharkhand stated that between 2015 to 2020, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://vidhansabha.jharkhand.gov.in/sites/default/files/Alpsuchit08032021.pdf">215</a> women in Jharkhand have been murdered after being branded as witches and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://vidhansabha.jharkhand.gov.in/sites/default/files/Alpsuchit08032021.pdf">4,556 cases </a>related to witch-hunting were reported. Additionally, 272 incidents of murders carried out in the name of witch-hunting have been documented.A review of NCRB data from 2012 to 2022 reveals a chilling toll — 1,183 people were brutally killed in witch-hunting related violence.In 2001, the state government introduced the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://jhalsa.org/Jhalsa_Pamphlets_Web/2014/05_Dayan_Pratha.pdf">Witchcraft Prohibition Act, 2001</a>, prohibiting identifying a woman as witch, or causing harm to anyone in the name of witchcraft. However, a weak justice system and lack of awareness keep this deadly practice alive.“Most cases of witch-hunting that we have seen are rooted in land disputes or jealousy. In many instances, the targets are single women—either living alone or those who are [social] leaders,” says Punam Toppo, a social worker.She draws a connection between lack of healthcare facilities and the reliance of villagers on traditional healers that reinforces belief in folklore. “When someone falls sick, they have no choice but to trust the ojha [healer], which reinforces the belief that only the ojha can cure them.“The only way to fight this is by increasing awareness and strictly enforcing the law,” she adds. Toppo is the chair of the Association for Social and Human Awareness (ASHA), a non-profit organisation working to raise awareness on the practice of witch-hunting.“In Jharkhand, most witch-hunting cases occur in the predominantly tribal districts,” says Ajay Jaiswal, Convener, Association for Social and Human Awareness (ASHA). “Of those, some 80–85 percent are Adivasi; the rest are Dalit or OBC. Among cases coming from western Jharkhand, both OBC and SC women are targeted,” he adds. &nbsp;

When Kande and Banjo Laguri went to the accused's house, demanding to know why he had killed Guruwari, they were told: “we have killed that witch!” The first information report (FIR) named Sikan Laguri and Manu Laguri as the accused.Later Banjo leaned in to tell this reporter, his voice dropping to a whisper so that Seema and others nearby wouldn’t hear. “They killed her… then both men raped her.”He continued saying, “the accused confessed to their crime and claimed that Guruwari had cursed them with witchcraft.” The two accused – both from the same house – were later arrested and charged with murder.Police arrived the next morning citing security risks in this Naxal-affected region for their delay. They collected the corpse and sent it for autopsy.While the law has finally moved, the tragedy has left both the family and the village reeling.

“My mother was wearing a nightie of that colour,” says Seema, pointing toward the blue skirt that is part of her school uniform – which she now wears at home. After her mother passed away, Seema dropped out of school, and the entire burden of managing the household and caring for her siblings – twin 10-year-olds and a two-year-old, has fallen on young shoulders.

In an old tin box, Seema has carefully preserved her mother’s sari. Some of her mother’s clothes still hang on a bamboo pole outside. “Maa accha tha [my mother was a good person],” says Guruwari’s daughter, Seema. “Whenever I think of her now, tears come to my eyes.”After a brief search, she brought out an old studio photograph and said, “This is my mother.” Although the photo had faded, Seema looked at it intently, as if her mother were standing right before her. “Look, this one is much clearer,” Kande interrupted, showing a passport-sized photo from an envelope.Kande still does not know why his wife was killed.In the courtyard, broken crockery lay scattered, silently testifying to that fateful incident.“My mother was no dayan,” says Seema Laguri.

‘My mother was not a dayan’

‘डाकीण नव्हती माझी आई!’

’میری ماں ڈائن نہیں تھی‘

‘మా అమ్మ మంత్రగత్తె కాదు’

‘ನನ್ನ ಅಮ್ಮ ಮಾಟಗಾತಿಯಲ್ಲ’

‘আমাৰ মা ডাইনী নাছিল’

‘মা আমার মোটেই ডায়েন ছিল না'

‘મારી મા કોઈ ડાકણ નહોતી’

‘मेरी मां डायन नहीं थी’

'എന്റെ അമ്മ ഒരു ദുർമന്ത്രവാദിനിയായിരുന്നില്ല'

‘ਮੇਰੀ ਮਾਂ ਡਾਇਨ ਨਹੀਂ ਸੀ’

‘ମୋ ମା’ ଡାହାଣୀ ନଥିଲା’

‘என் அம்மா சூனியக்காரி இல்லை’

‘ना रहे डाइन हमार माई’

‘मोर महतारी टोनही नइ रहिस’ 

Tonto

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‘My mother was not a dayan’

Guruwari Devi was branded a dayan (witch). In the last decade, like hundreds of women in the state of Jharkhand, she too was murdered for allegedly practicing witchcraft

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