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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME
Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-153-2009
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2009/3312
13 November 2009
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NEPAL: Police fail to charge those who accused a Dalit woman of witchcraft and forced her to eat human excreta
ISSUES: Violence against women; caste; discrimination; police inaction
Marani Devi to follow Parijat’s footsteps
http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2002/may/may12/index.htm
By Seema A Adhikari
KATHMANDU, May 11: One need not be an elite or highly educated person to bag prestigious awards. Marani Devi has set an example that even a barely educated, simple woman who is not even acquainted with city life, by getting hold of the Parijat Women Award 2002.
And this 55-year-old village woman, who grabbed the media headlines last year after being brutally beaten allegedly for being a witch, wants to follow the footprints of late Parijat and contribute in uplifting Nepali women.
Marani Devi of the eastern Terai district of Mahottari became a personality overnight after she faced traumatic experience of being called a witch and lived in the same Simardahi village fighting against the social evil.
Parijat Memorial Centre today awarded Marani Devi for her unrelenting efforts in creating awareness in her backward society as a community health worker. She has been voluntarily working as the health worker since last 16 years. Marani Devi has been providing polio drops supplement, free health counselling and family planning counselling to the rural folks.
Moreover, she was awarded for her courage to fight against the orthodox society and her commitment to change it. Ten months ago, several men led by the village chairman himself severely beat Marani Devi accusing her of being a witch.
Such incidents often take place in most of the rural parts of Nepal. There were similar cases recorded in other parts of the country before Marani Devi’s case was brought to light. But Marani Devi now wants to put an end to all this. She does not want anybody to go through the humiliation that she has experienced.
She has now come a long way from the days when she was a butt of public insult and jealousy. Marani Devi is now a grass-roots social worker, championing the cause of women’s rights.
“Whenever I encounter with the villagers, I remember the barbarian and brutal acts,” Marani Devi said, recalling those nightmarish days. “But I did not give up and began visiting door to door to create awareness in the village.”
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2211265,00.html
31/10/2007 09:40 - (SA)
Here are five facts about the witch religion of Wicca and Halloween, known as the Wiccan New Year of Samhain:
· The word “witchcraft” has three main connotations: the practice of magic or sorcery; the beliefs associated with the Western witch-hunts of the 14th to the 18th century; and varieties of the modern movement called Wicca.
· Wicca was first publicised in 1954 by a British civil servant named Gerald Gardner who said the religion dated to an old witch cult that existed in secret for hundreds of years, originating in the pre-Christian Paganism of Europe.
· Wicca is recognised as an official religion in the United States. It is a primarily Western movement of nature worship based on pre-Christian traditions.
· In the United States, there are between 250 000 and 500 000 followers of the Wiccan witch religion, which honours the “Elements of Nature” – Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Spirit – and their associated directions – North, East, South, West, Centre – in “sacred circles” where rituals are held.
· The Wiccan New Year of Samhain is considered a precursor to modern Halloween. Today it coincides with Halloween on October 31. Historically, it was a Celtic festival held on November 1 where the world of the gods was believed to be made visible to mankind. Modern witches say it is a time of year when the “veil between the dead and the living is thin.”
April 21st, 2008 – 2:33 pm ICT by admin – 
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Ranchi, April 21 (IANS) A man in Jharkhand beheaded a woman he thought was a witch and surrendered to the police after walking with the severed head for five kilometres, police said Monday. Jairam Hansda, 37, killed Renti Hansda, 40, Sunday in Tirildih village of Jamshedpur district, around 190 km from here. He then picked up her head and walked to the Mousabini police station.
Jairam told the police that the dead woman was into black magic, which he claimed killed his father and brother.
Source: http://www.nepalnews.com.np/contents/englishdaily/ktmpost/2003/may/may31/local.htm
Post Report
SINDHULI, May 30 : Bhakta Kumari, 77, of Prano Jhogajholi VDC-6 filed a complaint at the District Court on Wednesday alleging six persons for attempting to take her life and feed her human excreta calling her a witch. The complaint also states the alleged to have defamed her many a time.
Kumari in her complaint pointed out that her neighbour Lal Bahadur Dahal, his wife Muna Dahal, son Ram Kumar Dahal and other neighbours Prakash Giri, Bhimsen Thapa and Rajendra Neupane of ward-7 have been harassing her on the charge of practising witchcraft.
Those mentioned in her complaint had attempted to feed her human excreta last month, according to elderly Dahal.
‘They held me and tried to feed me human excreta. When I raised alarm, a local schoolteacher came to my rescue and I was spared from the horrible experience’, was mentioned in the complaint.
Since the failure of their first attempt, they set my house on fire when I was in, further reads the complaint.
She has also mentioned that her neighbour Lal Bahadur Dahal and his family has been accusing her to be a witch in public and held her responsible for every death in the village.
The complaint appeals for justice demanding action against the defendants and compensation for the harm inflicted on her.
Police have filed a case on behalf of the elderly against the accused for attempted murder.
Meanwhile, the District Court has issued an order of judicial custody to Ram Kumar Dahal and Badri Neupane while Bhimsen Thapa is released on a bail amount of Rs.20,000.
Source: http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=125923
POST REPORT
KATHMANDU, Oct 16 – A superstitious practice in Nawalparasi district has resulted in at least three women being tortured and over 200 accused of witchcraft, a field report says.Since people from a community in Kusma VDC – 7 Belaspur started worshiping Majar (a grave) in the belief it would cure disease, about 200 women have been accused of witchcraft. Of the accused, three have filed a First Information Report saying they were heavily tortured on the charge of being witches, according to the Human Rights Treaty Monitoring Coordination Committee (HRTMCC).
The report released today by the Forum for Women, Law and Development said that women were forced to confess to being witches. “They have scars and bruises all over the body,” said Lok Hari Basyal, an advocate and one of the members of the study team.
The story of Majar-worshiping began about a month back when 17-year-old Kutu Buddin Ansari of Ward No – 3 claimed that his sickness was cured after he offered worship at a Majar nearby his house as suggested by Hajrat Makdum of Ambedakar Majar in India. Thereafter people with any sort of problem started worshiping at the place. During the worship he/she would start trembling and name a villager as being a witch.
Tika Karki, another member of the study team, said that people of the area have blind faith that it would be like a crime to speak against the practice. “Women are pulled out of their house and tortured brutally,” she said.
The report also said despite the FIR, there has not been any legal action taken. The only initiative taken by police is to warn the perpetrators of action if they engaged again in torturing others in the name of witchcraft. “However, the victims have not been able to go back to their homes due to fear of being tortured further,” Karki said. The district administration has stopped the worship during nighttime though the practice goes on during day.
Posted on: 2007-10-16 22:33:13 (Server Time)
Source: http://advocacynet.org/resource/574
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Advocacynet
News Bulletin 54, January 19, 2006
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Kathmandu, Nepal and Washington, DC: A 52-year-old Dalit woman and her daughter have been stripped naked, beaten, and forced to eat human feces after being accused of witchcraft in a Nepalese village, according to the Jagaran Media Center (JMC), a partner of The Advocacy Project (AP).
The latest JMC report, which is posted on the AP website, states that Dayawati Urab was accused by a traditional healer of causing “mental distress” to a neighbor in the village of Sunsari and attacked the following night. Her daughter, Sunita Kumari Urab, was also branded as a witch, stripped and forced to eat excrement alongside her mother.
Although untouchability was abolished in Nepal by law in 1963, the practice still continues. The violence inflicted on Dayawati and her daughter also reflects the fact that within the Dalit caste, women are particularly vulnerable from prejudice, a patriarchal social system, and even Dalit males.
The school drop-out rate is highest among Dalit girls, and only six percent of Dalit women are literate. Representation of Dalit women in administration and political bodies is non-existent. According to a recent Human Rights Watch report, “within the women’s movement, Dalit issues have not been taken seriously.”
Dayawati’s ordeal shows that once a woman is branded a witch in a village, she will find it hard to restore her reputation. According to the JMC, this is the third time that Dayawati has been forced to eat excrement. In 2005, she was also fined 3,000 rupees after being accused of witchcraft, and her husband, Tikaram, fired from his job.
As well as trumped up, the charges usually take the form of personal vendettas. JMC reports that Dayawati’s main accusers are Ganga Urab, Indra Lal Urab, and Melawati Urab – the same three villagers who have persecuted her for the last three years.
Dayawati has now been banned from participating in religious functions and is so severely stigmatized that she cannot make a living. “They [the locals] hold me responsible for all the accidents,” she said.
Established in 2000 by a small group of Dalit journalists to advocate for Dalits in Nepal, the JMC has stepped up its efforts to monitor abuses in villages, where discrimination against Dalit is most prevalent and vicious.
The information is collected by JMC reporters, sometimes at great personal risk. One JMC reporter was physically assaulted after protesting against a scam in the town of Biratnagur, in which a local official was milking a Dalit education fund. The resurgence of the Maoist rebellion will also make it harder to report freely from the countryside.
As part of its partnership agreement with the JMC, The Advocacy Project posts JMC bulletins on the AP web site and home page, and issues regular stories on the Dalit through AP’s online news service. The JMC and AP are now seeking funds to help the JMC’s field reporters and field offices make better use of information technology.
AP’s Director Iain Guest visited Nepal in October and reported on several grassroots Dalit advocacy campaigns, including efforts to free Badi women, who have been forced into prostitution because of their caste.
Source: http://blog.com.np/united-we-blog/2008/04/20/who-is-the-real-witch-ycl-or-the-pregnant-woman/
Cadres of Maoist youth wing, YCL, thrashed a couple at Pwang VDC-8 of Rukum district yesterday accusing the latter of practicing witchcraft. Dal Bahadur Gharti and his pregnant wife, Devi, were severely beaten by local YCL cadres, Chunlal Gharti and Rajesh Malla, after the locals accused the Gharti couple of casting spell on a local girl, Bishnu Budathoki, who suddenly fell ill Friday (18 April) night. The locals also smeared black on the faces of Gharti couple and took them around the village after forcefully making them sign a paper stating that they would take responsibility if something goes wrong with Bishnu. Injured Dal Bahadur said, “They (YCL) forced us to concede to the allegation threatening us to drive out from the village.”
Meanwhile, YCL member Rajesh Malla said, “We thrashed the couple as they kept changing their statement when we quizzed them.” Due to poor economic condition, injured Gharti couple has not even able to get treatment, neither have they lodged any complaint seeking justice.
Source: http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2008/jun/jun19/news03.php
A teenage girl was paraded naked around the village market in Rasuwa district by her neighbors after alleging her of being a witch.
Pasang Nurpu Tamang, Cheju Tamang, Ramkaji Tamang and Minjen Tamang had stripped 18-year-old Kuti Tamang (name changed) naked and paraded her around Ramchhe Bazaar accusing her of practicing witchcraft, Kantipur Daily reported.
The accusers had first taken Kuti a little away from her house saying that they needed to talk to her, but later accused her of practicing witchcraft and demanded Rs 300,000 from her. When she rejected their demand they tore her clothes apart, stripped her naked, and paraded her around the market.
Later police arrested Cheju and Minjen Tamang after the girl filed a complaint at the local police station. nepalnews.com ag June 19 08
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1492900.stm
Police in Nepal have arrested two people after a dispute over witchcraft ended in violence. Fighting broke out in the south-eastern district of Mahottarai when a woman accused of being a witch was defended by people who said she had been unfairly singled out.
The woman was accused by villagers of being responsible for the death of a local teenager.
They said the teenager’s death was caused by evil spirits.
In the ensuing dispute, four people were injured in the violence.
A correspondent for the BBC in Kathmandu says deep-rooted superstition and the practice of witch-hunting are still prevalent in many Nepalese villages.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
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