Witch-hunt Island : For 22 days,35 people in Assam’s Majuli put through ‘purification’

On Ooctober 2,an 18-year-old youth and a woman visiting Shikarigaon in Assam’s Majuli island declared that 35 people living in the village were “witches”. For 22 days,the 35 were kept confined to the village and subjected to a “public hearing”,humiliation and ‘purification’. Outsiders were barred entry,while the administration kept away.

The 35 escaped the ultimate punishment,which is death. They were lucky. Many haven’t been on the world’s largest inhabited river island that is fast eroding under the encroaching Brahmaputra but is holding fast to a belief that has come down generations.

According to the Assam Police,132 persons,a majority of them women,were killed in the state after being dubbed witches between 2002 and 2012. While over 100 cases have been registered,chargesheets have been submitted in only about 60,while about 450 persons have been arrested. Several of the killings took place on the 600-sq-km island of Majuli.

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It was three years ago that Puneswar Pegu,who dropped out after primary school,started telling his farmer parents that Goddess Lakshmi appeared in his dreams and told him she wanted to “possess” him. The parents,exasperated at Puneswar’s wayward ways that also led to him giving up studies,laughed it away as nonsense.

Shikarigaon is a typical Mising tribal village comprising 323 households,all living in bamboo houses on raised platforms because of the regular floods caused by the Brahmaputra. “The village has been facing the wrath of the river for decades now. I myself have seen the village retreat at least 5 km since my childhood,” says Dilip Gam,a teacher at the Shikaribali Primary School,which has 145 students on its rolls.

On October 1,a woman whose name no one recalls but who was locally known as a fortune-teller,arrived from Bokulguri village in Lakhimpur district. She said she was possessed by Lord Krishna and that Puneswar was indeed possessed by Lakshmi. Nobody questioned her. She also told the villagers that there were several people practising witchcraft in Shikarigaon,and that they would have to be “eliminated” if the village wanted prosperity and peace.

A day later,she took Puneswar around Shikarigaon — trailed by scores of villagers — and pointed out 35 houses where,she said,the “witches” lived.

A public announcement was made declaring the 35 — three of them women — “witches”,demanding that they surrender,failing which they would be dragged out for a public hearing,where the ultimate punishment could be death. While about 20 of them surrendered,villagers forced the reluctant ones out. The youngest was nine,the eldest 70-plus,a majority of them married.

A small temple for Lakshmi was built in the compound of Puneswar’s father Mitharam Pegu’s house,and prayers began.

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Soon,the 35 found themselves being accused of several crimes. Biswajit Panging,who admits to having been present at the surrender of the “witches”,says four of them had “confessed” to causing the death of several persons through witchcraft.

Minadhar Panging,president of the Village Defence Party whose volunteers guard the village at night,claimed that some of them admitted performing magic on a number of people. Others charged that they had seen most of the 35 loitering near houses.

Villagers admit that the four who were “identified” to have caused the death of others through black magic and witchcraft were kept confined in a pig sty for a night. Two of them were also believed to have been kept submerged in water up to the neck for a whole night.

Dilip Gam denies reports that the 35 were also kept under house arrest,as reported in the media. “It is however true that ‘Lakshmi’ (Puneswar) asked them not to leave the village till the issue was resolved,” he admits.

A schoolteacher,Gam acknowledges he doesn’t rule out the existence of witchcraft. “My answer will be both yes and no. Yes,because there have been a number of unnatural deaths in the village. People by and large believe that somebody has been playing some mischief,” he says.

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Soon after the 35 were singled out,entry of outsiders to Shikarigaon was barred and photographs prohibited. While Arup Kumar Sarma,the Circle Officer of Majuli,managed to get in,he was not allowed to even see Puneswar. “They did not oppose my entering the village,but insisted that police should not step in,” says Sarma.

“We will finally resolve the issue ourselves,” said Borua Panging,the ‘gaon burra (headman)’.

Police then set up a picket just outside the village to intervene “when required”.

Nobody in the administration has an answer to why a case was not registered. “Nobody has filed any FIR,” shrugs Gaurav Agarwala,Sub-Divisional Police Officer,Majuli.

Laya Madduri,a young IAS officer who has just recently been appointed Sub-Divisional Officer of Majuli,which is a sub-division under Jorhat district,admits they don’t have any SOP to handle such issues. “It is more complex than it appears. We kept a watch on the village,but did not receive any input about these confinements. We tried to help some through community intervention,” she says.

Villagers see nothing wrong in what transpired for most part of this month. About 500 people,men and women,would gather in the courtyard of Mitharam Pegu surrounding Puneswar on a regular basis during that time. Having proclaimed himself as possessed by the goddess,he took to dressing up like a woman.

As the people prayed to the goddess,Puneswar made speeches,asking the 35 to come out of their houses and surrender for “purification”,to be “absolved of their crimes”. “Don’t take pictures. Don’t even take out your mobile phones,” he warned.

At other times,Puneswar cautioned villagers against consuming meat or apong,the local rice beer,for certain days of the week.

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What saved the 35 was villagers finding out that the woman from Bokulgiri who had first declared them “witches” was now seeking Rs 10,000 from each to “absolve them”. Bhaskar Pegu,president of the Majuli unit of the Takam Mising Porin Kebang (TMPK),the apex student body of the Mising community latched on to this. “This gave me a very important handle,” he chuckles.

According to him,soon after this,there was an angry telephone call between Puneswar and the woman,and the villagers announced that the latter wouldn’t be allowed into Shikarigaon again.

On October 23,Bhaskar managed to gather the community around Mitharam Panging’s house and convinced Puneswar that the 35 should be let off after “purification”. When the process began,the actual number to turn up rose to 51,including as many as 22 women and the nine-year-old boy. They were “purified” as Puneswar mumbled mantras and the villagers chanted chapters from the Bhagavad Gita.

The 51 were made to hold their ears and squat even as the “serious criminals” were hit on the back. They were later “accepted back” by the community.

Laya Madduri claims while the administration played a subtle role,“a handful of right-thinking people like Bhaskar Pegu did play a very positive and effective role”.

Bhaskar says he is only relieved that the “witches” weren’t killed,as had been pronounced.

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However,that may not have been due to Bhaskar’s intervention alone. At least two people are believed to have been killed in Shikarigaon in 1998 after being declared witches. Headman Panging says a number of people were later arrested for that killing,while others had to face police questions.

Shikarigaon wanted to avoid that fate,says Bhaskar,adding that his student body has been trying its best against “difficulties” to save the so-called “witches”. “When we first heard about 35 persons being pronounced witches,the first thing we did was try and find some villagers who did not believe this. But we could hardly locate one. Every person in Shikarigaon appeared to believe what this boy was saying,and even refused to tell us the names of the 35,” he says.

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Located in the middle of the Brahmaputra in Jorhat district,Majuli has a long history of belief in witchcraft and witch-hunting among Mising tribals. “There have been numerous cases of so-called witches being done to death. Illiteracy is one reason,the other being lack of basic facilities like healthcare and road connectivity,” says Janardan Deva Goswami,satradhikar of the Uttar Kamalabari Satra,one of the 23 Vaishnavite monasteries on Majuli island.

With the nearest well-equipped hospital across the river in Jorhat town,and the sub-division hospital in Majuli as well as the local health centres ill-equipped,Mising villagers depend on quacks,who perform “magic” and offer medicines made of unknown plants,roots and leaves to cure various ailments. “Women in labour pain have to be taken in a thela (handcart) because ambulances cannot come to our village,” says Rupali Panging,president of the Shikarigaon Mahila Samiti. The story is the same for most surrounding tribal villages.

“In case the bez (quack) fails to cure the person,the blame is put on a daini (witch) or bhoot (ghost),who generally turns out to be a fellow villager. Once such a person is identified,the next step is to hold a public meeting and pronounce a verdict which,in extreme cases,is death,otherwise expulsion from the village,” says Bhaskar.

Akon Bora,Assam Minister for Social Welfare,who hails from Majuli,however,calls the killing of people for practising witchcraft or black magic a recent phenomenon. “In the past there were traditional faith-healers and practitioners of herbal medicine,as also tantriks. But this recent trend appears to have various dimensions like economic,personal enmity,lack of awareness etc.”

Dr Pabitra Mili,doctor at the four-bed Ratanpur Miri Mini primary health centre,located about 6 km away,says: “There are several boys and girls in Mising villages who claim to have become gods,with the semi-illiterate tribals of our community believing them. The general health of the people is anyway bad,with liver problems arising from excessive consumption of apong. Thus the mortality rate is high. As sick people finally die at the hands of village quacks and so-called magic-healers,the latter are immediately dubbed witches,” Mili says.

Goswami,who has some followers among the Mising tribals,visited Shikarigaon when the 35 were being kept confined. “The people did let me enter,but insisted they had not meted out any atrocity to the 35 persons identified as witches.”

Many a time persons “convicted” of witchcraft or black magic confess to the crime for fear of life,says Bhaskar. “Once you admit at the first call,there is every chance of you escaping death. So many people do that,preferring to be expelled or ostracised than to be beaten to death.”

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One person to have escaped is Ritumoni Doley of Balijan village in Majuli,who was declared a witch in Banhfala village of Jorhat district in October last year.

“A group of men gagged me and dragged me out of the house towards the paddy fields. They threw me on the ground,beat me up and one person kicked me in my belly. Luckily,my mother-in-law ran to my rescue and saved me. Early next morning,I left the village along with my husband Bharat and my little children,Gargi and Rana,and took refuge at my maternal home in Balijan,” says Ritumoni. A police case has not brought any relief,and she and her husband do not want to return to Banhfala.

Ritumoni says her elder sister Anita faced a similar fate in Borduar,a village adjoining Balijan in Majuli,back in 2004. “She ran 3-4 km through the paddy fields at night to her parental home,leaving behind husband Premadhar,who sided with the villagers in declaring her a witch,” says Ritumoni. Her sister is a “courageous woman”,she adds. “She got married again and now lives in Sadiya,about 200 km from here.”

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The story of Shantanu Doley (17) is more tragic. A section of villagers in Borduar (where Ritumoni’s sister was attacked in 2004) declared his parents,Rajkumar Doley and his wife Bornali,witches on August 28,2012.

“They first hacked Rajkumar to death in his fishery,and then killed Bornali and their 14-year old son Moni at their house. Shantanu had only a day earlier shifted to our house to get enrolled in a better school,” says Ananda Pegu,his maternal uncle.

Baliram Narah of Barkolia village is another survivor once declared a “witch”. “I had gone to inspect masonry work on the burial site of my close friend Jadu Narah,when some people from my village accused me of doing black magic there. They called a meeting,declared me a witch and announced a death sentence. Within minutes they blindfolded and gagged me,tied my hands behind my back and dragged me to the river bank. My family members informed the police,which saved my life,” says Narah.

Earlier this year,he was elected a member of the zilla parishad.

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Birubala Rabha (60),who escaped after being declared a witch and given a death sentence by a “court” in her native village near Goalpara in western Assam in 1991,has similarly turned her life around. A campaigner against witchcraft and witch-hunting,she heads ‘Mission Birubala’ and goes from village to village generating awareness against the practice.

Birubala,who also offered help to resolve the Shikarigaon crisis,says: “All this is nonsense. We have to tackle this menace with a strong hand and mete out the severest of punishments.”

The Assam State Women’s Commission had drafted a Bill to tackle the menace of witch-hunting,through exemplary punishment to those practising witchcraft as well as those punishing others by falsely accusing them of black magic,but it has seen no progress in three years.

Calling what happened in Shaikarigaon “shameful”,Meera Barua,chairperson of the commission,says: “We have already registered a case. But what is most disturbing is that a Bill that our legal cell had drafted to tackle this menace has remained where it was in 2011.”

The 51 in Shikarigaon have gone back to their normal lives,but Birubala fears there will be more like them. “I know what it feels like once you are declared a witch,” she shudders. “I have seen death from close quarters.”

‘I’ve been able to save at least 40’

‘Mission Birubala’,in the words of a Class V pass,64-year-old survivor-campaigner

“My son Dharmeswar was mentally challenged since childhood. One day he fell ill,a deodini (believed to be an incarnation of god) from the village came and said a fairy had secretly married Dharmeswar and had become pregnant from him. The deodini also said the day the fairy gives birth to a baby,my son would die.

Nothing happened to my son even after one year and he recovered from his illness. I started openly telling the people of Thakurbhita,my village,that this deodini is nonsense,and that we should not believe in them. The people did not take me seriously. One day in 1986,the same deodini proclaimed a woman of our village daini and asked people to throw her out.

I organised a meeting at the village temple and related my own story. Majority of the people refused to take my side and instead said I too should be beaten up and thrown out. I stood there bravely,facing humiliation and abuses. But my stand worked and people didn’t dare touch me. However,they didn’t come forward to throw the other woman out either.

I have seen dozens declared as witches since my childhood. But since 1986,I have been able to save at least 40 from sure death.” —Birubala Rabha