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The Honourable Supreme Court of India recently in the case of Balku Oram v. State of Odisha upheld the culpability and subsequent conviction of the appellant by the Trial Court and High Court for the offences punishable under Section 302 read with Section 34 of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code. The appellant was convicted for the murder of the deceased, Puni Naik on the grounds that she practiced witchcraft that led to the death of a woman named Manobodha Naik. The appellant along with his co-accused Udai Oram had dragged the deceased from her house and assaulted her severely by means of a lathi. Due to the assault committed on her the deceased eventually died which resulted in the trial and conviction of the appellant and his co-accused. The Supreme Court through its bench comprising of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice N.V. Anjaria while upholding the conviction stated that the facts of the case deeply disturbed the conscience of the court since a woman who was defenceless was branded as a witch and superstition still continues to supersede the rule of law as well as constitutional morality.

Superstition and witchcraft practices continue to remain deeply entrenched in our Indian society which leads to violation of human rights often leading to gender-based violence especially against the marginalised communities. A witch as defined under Section 2(a) of the Odisha Prevention of Witch-Hunting Act, 2013 means, “a woman who has been identified by any person or persons believing to be in possession of, or having, any evil power for causing any harm to any person or his property.” Witch-hunting on the other hand is the identification, accusation or persecution of a person, majorly a woman as a witch or a practitioner of supernatural practices.

Witchcraft is a centuries old concept yet the stigma and lack of sensitisation towards the women being labelled as witches and continued violence against them has often led to the commission of serious criminal offences. The concept dates back to the Greco-Roman when women who held views against the church were labelled as witches and were eventually socially ostracised and even burnt life. The Hindu epics Mahabharata and Ramayana also talk about semi-human creatures like yakshas, pishachas, rakhahsas and other supernatural beings who had the powers of healing, protection, incantations or what is described as magic. However, there lies an important distinction between a practice that existed centuries ago or is a piece of mythological imagination and criminal persecution on the basis of such allegations. A woman being labelled as a dayan, daain, chudail or a witch by other members of society is a social issue that needs to be addressed. The problem beings when a supernatural belief takes form of an accusation and it eventually leads to social exclusion. The social exclusion sometimes leads to violence and death.

Witch-Hunting is a direct attack on the constitutional rights guaranteed to the people in India. Article 14 guarantees equality before law while Article 15 guarantees non-discrimination including on the grounds of gender. Furthermore, Article 21 protects the life and personal liberty of every person residing in India which is interpreted in the light of human dignity. Article 25 while guarantees the freedom of religion does not however include within its ambit the constitutional protection for violence and practices that destroy another person's dignity in the name of religion. Apart from this, Article 51A(h) levies a fundamental duty on the citizens to develop scientific temper, humanism and spirit of inquiry and reform. The Supreme Court's recent ruling brings these provisions in one conversation. The Court stated, “The Constitution of India envisioned a society founded on the principles of equality, fraternity, scientific temperament, wherein any practice derogatory to women was to be discarded. Despite this, practices such as witch-hunting continue to persist within few sections of our society. A Constitutional democracy such as ours cannot survive; wherein such derogatory practices continue to elude the principles of rule of law and constitutional morality.”

The brutality emanating from the allegations of addressing a woman as a “witch” practicing black magic, at times extends beyond murders, where before the killing, women are subjected to torture, sexual abuse and merciless beatings. Such a situation where superstitious beliefs take hold over the conscience of the people residing in the society leads to the vulnerable women becoming the victims of collective hostility. In July 2026 a woman was beaten to death by her father-in-law on the allegations of practising witchcraft in a small town in Chhattisgarh. The father-in-law on suspicion of his daughter-in-law being involved in the deaths of his three family members through witchcraft practices decided to murder her. The deceased had protested against the allegation, but nothing could deter her father like figure from beating her to death with a stick. He was eventually booked for the offence of murder. A similar incident was reported from Assam in December 2025 where a couple was killed after being burnt alive by a group of villagers on the ground of suspicion of practicing witchcraft. The news report mentioned that in the last 10 years Assam had seen more than 100 deaths of witch-hunting.

India does not have a ventral legislation which criminalises the offence of witch-hunting. The state legislations however exist which include:

1. The Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Act, 2015– The Act prohibits witch-hunting and prevent and protect persons from witch-hunting. The Act also aims to eliminate torture, oppression, humiliation and killing of persons on the grounds of witch-hunting.

2. Prevention of Witch (Daain) Practices Act, 1999 in Bihar and 2001 in Jharkhand— Any person who causes any form of physical or mental torture to a woman identifying her as a witch (daain) is made punishable.

3. The Chhattisgarh Tonahi Pratadna Nivaran Act, 2005 in Chhattisgarh— “Tonahi” is interpreted as a person who practices witchcraft or black magic and makes punishable any person who identifies a person as a “Tonahi” and subjects them to any form of torture, oppression or any other offence.

4. The Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Practices Act, 2013

5. The Odisha Prevention of Witch-Hunting Act, 2013– It is a legislation which provides for effective measures to tackle the menace of witch-hunting.

6. Rajasthan Prevention of Witch-Hunting Act, 2015– The legislation criminalises witch-hunting and even prescribes enhanced punishment for degrading a woman by branding her as a witch or to consume obnoxious substances or parading naked or be displaced from her property.

In all the other States where no specific legislation for witch-hunting is enacted the general criminal law i.e. the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 shall be applicable. The conduct arising from a witchcraft allegation may attract the offence of murder, hurt, grevious hurt, criminal intimidation, outraging the modesty of a woman, employing criminal force or assault to disrobe a female, etc. Thus, the absence of a specific and dedicated anti-witch-hunting law that is applicable to the whole of India does not mean that the perpetration is beyond the reach of criminal liability.

The most important analysis from the Balku Oram's judgement is that witch-hunting is not merely a “social evil” which maybe left to the social reformers. It is rather to be viewed from the prism of rule of law. A woman who is branded as a “witch” by her family, neighbours or society does not lose her rights under Article 21 merely because the community believes her to possess supernatural powers. A rumour cannot become the ground of social ostracisation of a woman and fear cannot replace reason. The Supreme Court in the aforesaid judgement has rightly observed that in such circumstances, reason must prevail because it is the bulwark against collective irrationality. Constitutional morality is the principle that everyone residing in a country should act in accordance with the values, principles and spirit of constitution. The idea goes much beyond the simple obeying of laws. It aims to garner respect for the fundamental ideals that the Constitution embodies including rule of law, human dignity and justice. The decisions and actions should uphold the values of the Constitution even if they come in conflict with popular opinions, traditions, superstitions or political convenience. India as a nation has tremendously grown yet the fact that a woman could still be killed because she was labelled as a “witch” conveys that legal development does not always imply social modernity. They may not always travel together. The challenge before the law is to ensure that no belief becomes so strong that it overshadows and crumbles another human being's right to live with dignity. This latest judgement is a reminder that in a constitutional democracy, superstition may explain a crime, but it will never be able to justify it.

Author is an Assistant Professor at University Institute of Legal Studies (UILS), Panjab University, Chandigarh. Views are personal.

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