Bhadu village’s influential upper caste head declared chandi Kumhar a
witch. The main reason behind this act was that that her land was near his farm
and he wanted to get rid of her to so that he can grab that land for himself.
As per his plan at 11:00 clock in the night 8-10 people barged in her house where
she was sleeping alone with her daughter –in-law and started beating her saying “she is a witch
and is eating her daughter in law”. Hey beat her with heavy sticks, stones and
in her injured state they tied her ponytail to a rope in the tractor and
dragged her for 4-5 KM and left he unconscious in the middle in the middle of
the road. In the morning the village folks helped her since they were also
angry about how the upper caste people had treated other lower caste people in the
village and Chandi became a reason to fight the oppression. Her only son used
to also work at the tractor place and she was scared that the upper caste folks
might even murder him. Her daughter in law’s parents came and took her and ther
kids away ..saying they want to be safe from the witch. Son was also torn
between his responsibilities between mother and the rest of the family.
When Taraji’s organization intervened the Police refused to work on the
case claiming “there is no rule against witchcraft” we can’t register the case.
It was disheartening to get such reply .. does it mean that if there is no rule
the victims should just keep suffering in silence ? Finally Taraji decided that
she will get justice to chandi by mobilizing the community .. A meeting of
kumhar class was called in which from 24 different near by regions almost 1000
kunhar representatives came and demanded justice against oppression. They
demanded a proof for the claim that Chandi is a witch. Because of this when the
accused felt pressure they gave in and admitted that they had all this planned for
the land and she is not a witch and they asked her for forgiveness and also
paid 11000 Rs as fine. During this
meeting more witchcraft cases came out and it seemed like all of them were
framed for their land or property. Almost 20-25 cases came forward in last 15
years when helpless women were branded as witches and were made to suffer in unimaginable
ways .. paraded nakes in village, beaten , forced to eat their excreta,cut her
hair and paraded on a donkey, violating their private parts by putting painful
things like chilli powder or sharp objects and causing serious physical and
mental injuries and often then they would be found missing. It was found that 4
of them were just pushed through the roof because they were branded as witches.
Taraji’s organization took this
case very seriously after hearing all this and attracted a log ot media
attention for this case to bring it to notice of the whole Rajasthan State. Taraji’s work with witch-hunting victims has led to the Govt. of
Rajasthan drafting the "
more can be found
here http://womensenews.org/story/the-world/070716/recourse-rare-witch-hunt-victims-in-india#.UXf0hsq2ZXY
She is honored for her courage and persistence in working with Taraji’s
organization to fight for this case
inspite of the threat to her family and facing disgrace because of “witch
branding”. She was determined and brave to stay in the same village fight all
odds and today she has gotten her respect and dignity back . She still stays in
the same village and is widely respected for her determination.
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