Thousands of women, accused of sorcery, tortured and executed in Indian witch hunts

[n2doc]

By Terrence McCoy
If it began like the others, the first sign that Saraswati Devi would be murdered was an accusation delivered to a shaman. Perhaps she had offended someone. Perhaps someone had fallen sick and had wondered why. Perhaps a community well had suddenly dried and someone needed blaming. Perhaps they chose her because Devi was lower caste, because she was a woman, and because they’d probably get away with it.

The killers came for her on Saturday. Two of her sons tried to save her, but couldn’t and were beaten. Their punishment wouldn’t match Devi’s. Before the 14 villagers inflicted injuries so severe they would claim her life, they “forced her to consume human excreta,” police told the Hindustan Times.

Though shocking by nearly any standard, the murder was not unique. It was not even uncommon in pockets of rural India.

In places where superstition and vigilantism overlap and small rumors can turn deadly, nearly 2,100 women accused of witchcraft have been killed between 2000 and 2012, according to crime records gathered by the Indian newspaper Mint. Others placed the number at 2,500; others higher still. “Like the proverbial tip of a very deep iceberg, available data hides much of the reality of a problem that is deeply ingrained in society,” according to New Delhi-based Partners for Law in Development. “It is only the most gruesome cases that are reported — most cases of witch-hunting go unreported and unrecorded.”

more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/21/thousands-of-women-accused-of-sorcery-tortured-and-executed-in-indian-witch-hunts/

It feels like we are entering a new Dark Age. Or maybe we just never left the old one in some places.

[conservaphobe]

1. Well, this gets the prize for most unsettling thing I've read today.

Jesus H...

[ismnotwasm]

2. What the fuck?

How horrible.

[samsingh]

3. disgusting - no more violence against women

[BrotherIvan]

4. When will it ever end?

The veil of superstition, others said, only hides the true motive behind the killings. “Superstition is only an excuse,” Pooja Singhal Purwar, a social welfare official, told The Washington Post’s Rama Lakshmi in 2005. “Often a woman is branded a witch so that you can throw her out of the village and grab her land, or to settle scores, family rivalry, or because powerful men want to punish her for spurning their sexual advances. Sometimes, it is used to punish women who question social norms.”

[Brigid]

14. It is said . . .

That this was the motivation behind the Salem switch trials too.

[smirkymonkey]

5. WTF is wrong w/ India?

The stories of violence against women and girls are now almost daily. It's sickening. That culture has a serious problem and it will destroy them if they don't address it soon.

[n2doc]

6. Pretty clear the rule of law has broken down there, at least in rural areas

If normal modern law and enforcement of said law was in place, this wouldn't happen, because the perpetrators would hang, or be in prison for a very long time. They are getting away with it, and that only encourages more lawlessness. Perhaps India has gotten too big to govern effectively as a single country.

[smirkymonkey]

7. I think you are right.

Until the government and the LEO's take it seriously, there won't be much change in that country. Unfortunately for the poor women and girls in India. What a horrible way to live.

[riderinthestorm]

8. Women are easy pickings since they're not considered as full equal members of society

They're legally considered "property" instead of a full human being with rights of their own. If they happen to live in more civilized parts of the country, they may be considered as subhuman and fair game by anyone who happens to catch them in a situation they can exploit.

Its both culture and religion that reinforce it, so women are in a double whammy there.

[smirkymonkey]

11. It's really sad.

There are so many brilliant Indian women in my company (a Fortune 500 Company) who excel at what they do. What an absolute waste of potential.

[Zorra]

9. Oh, no, not this shit again. nt

[fujiyama]

10. I don't think there's another country with so much wasted potential

This kind of insanity will eat India alive.

The treatment of women, huge swaths of the country mired in superstition, corruption beyond all imagination, and little investment in its own infrastructure all pose bigger problems than any neighboring country. I hope the new PM understands how dire these threats are. So far, I am very, very skeptical.

[Arugula Latte]

12. WTF?!

Why are so many humans so incredibly idiotic and violent and just generally effed up?

[Uncle Joe]

13. I hope to believe we never left the old ones in some places, as perhaps they will evolve or become

enlightened as to the utter tragic, stupidity of their hateful ways.




Thanks for the thread, n2doc.

[roguevalley]

15. village councils order gang rapes, women get raped and are jailed/killed. sick, demnted