Bhubaneswar: Odisha saw almost 35% drop in witch-hunting cases between 2020 and 2024, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majh informed on Monday.
Responding to a query by Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, the CM said that Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh, Nabarangpur, Kandhamal, Keonjhar and Rayagada districts reported higher incidences during this period.
While 95 witch-hunting cases were registered and 96 people arrested in 2020, the number dropped to 79 in 2021 with 103 people being arrested. In 2022, 102 cases were registered and 89 people arrested. The cases dropped to 70 and 62 with 52 and 48 arrests in 2023 and 2024 respectively, he said.
Tribal-dominated Mayurbhanj district recorded the highest number of witch-hunting cases during 2020-24 with 35 cases in 2020, 28 in 2021, 40 in 2022, and 26 and 16 cases in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
The decrease in the cases is being attributed to increased awareness about the Odisha Prevention of Witch-Hunting Act, 2013, which specifically protects tribals from being labelled as practitioners of witchcraft.
Earlier this year, a 60-year-old tribal man’s family also faced social boycott in his village under Bangiriposhi police limits of Mayurbhanj district for months after a witch-doctor branded him as a sorcerer.
On March 18, a 65-year-old man, his 35-year-old son and a 45-year-old man were hacked to death while three others were seriously injured after two groups clashed over witchcraft-related allegations in Ganjam district.
