BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) recommended that the state govt pay Rs 3 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of Jasoda Singh, who was killed on March 2, 2018, by her villagers in Sundargarh district, suspecting her of practising ‘witchcraft’.
Hearing a petition filed by human rights activist Biswapriya Kanungo and lawyer Bijaya Kumar Panda, the Commission, in its November 4 order, asked the Sundargarh district magistrate to take all appropriate steps for the payment of compensation to the next of kin of the deceased within a period of two months from the date of receipt of this order and submit the compliance report by February 4, 2025.
The petitioners filed the case based on a news report published in The Times of India about the attack on a woman, Jasoda Singh, and her family by villagers of Singatola Rotakhandi under Biramitrapur police station limits in Sundargarh district at around 8:30 pm on March 2, 2018.
When her husband and son came to rescue her, the group of villagers thrashed them too. All three were taken to Rourkela Govt Hospital. Jasoda succumbed to her injuries, but the father and son recovered from their injuries. The Commission took cognisance of the case and asked for action taken reports from state govt officials.
On April 28, 2018, the Sundargarh SP submitted a report stating that 11 people involved in the incident were arrested. However, the report did not mention compensation for the next of kin of the deceased. That is why the Commission passed an interim recommendation for the payment of compensation.
The petitioner brought to the notice of the OHRC the larger issue of the witch-hunting practice, which is prevalent in different parts of the state. They mentioned in the petition that the state machinery failed to protect the life and dignity of Jasoda Singh.
“Such incidents are reported despite the state having the Odisha Prevention of Witch-hunting Act, 2013. This Commission is of the prima facie view that it is not sufficient to deal with such incidents of killing and violence leading to death on suspicion of practising ‘witchcraft’.”