New Delhi: The Supreme Court upheld the life sentence of an Odisha resident while observing that victimisation of women in the name of “witchcraft” reflects a deep-rooted social prejudice that seeks scapegoats rather than solutions.
Superstition and irrational fear cannot be allowed to override reason and the rule of law, the Court said.
The bench of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice N V Anjaria made the observations while upholding the life sentence of the man convicted of murdering a woman after accusing her of practising witchcraft.
Balku Oram was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for killing the woman in 1998. The Odisha High Court had upheld his conviction and sentence, following which he approached the apex court. His appeal was dismissed, as reported by Hindustan Times.
The appeal was devoid of merit and the state had proved that Oram and his co-accused had brutally assaulted the victim, causing her death, the Supreme Court held.
It also observed that the facts of the case had “deeply disturbed the conscience of the Court.”
Practices such as witch craft still persisted in a constitutional democracy like India, the Court lamented.
“When faced with fear, grief or an unexplained event, society can find it easier to blame a woman than confront the real cause. Such instinct to find a scapegoat reflected entrenched prejudice across the society,” the court said, stressing that “reason” must replace irrational beliefs that turn vulnerable women into targets of hostility.
