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NHRC notice to Raj govt over women branded as witches
JAIPUR: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday issued notices to Rajasthan chief secretary and director general of police (DGP) demanding a report
JAIPUR: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday issued notices to Rajasthan chief secretary and director general of police (DGP) demanding a report on action taken on cases in which women were victimised after being branded as witches.
The rights body has also asked the state about steps it has taken to prevent the recurrence of such cases.
On June 8, Hindustan Times had carried a story on the practice of witch-hunting in Bhilwara. Taking suo motu cognizance of the report, the NHRC issued the notices.
In its report, HT had highlighted that justice was a far-fetched dream for such women, who have been ostracized by their community and cannot go back to their villages.
In many cases, their proper ties were also usurped by people who branded them witches.
Highlighting their difficulties, the report noted that more often than not, it is the widows and other women without any family support who are branded witches, some of them brutally tortured and even killed.
The commission took note of all these details. It also observed that contents of the HT story raised serious questions about violation of human rights of the hapless and helpless women in the state.
