Rural Chhattisgarh has been witnessing a disturbing trend in which elderly women, particularly helpless widows, have been brutally killed by their own family members after branding them as “witch”. As many as 212 people, majority of whom were elderly women, have been subjected to inhuman torture and murdered in Chhattisgarh in the past one decade.
“Mostly elderly women, particularly the helpless widows, fall victim to the superstitions where they were being suspected of practicing black magic and casting evil spirits on the kin of their rivals. In rural Chhattisgarh, they are called Baigas (quacks), who treat sick people by traditional methods. The rural folks basically expect Baigas to heal ailing people by warding off evil spirits” Dr Dinesh Mishra, who runs an NGO, told this newspaper.