At a time when Gujarat is celebrating a festival that worships the feminine nature of the divine, a disturbing incident has emerged where a woman was  killed after being suspected of ‘witchcraft’.

The incident happened at Rampuri village of Arvalli’s Bhiloda taluka, where a mother of two was allegedly shot dead by her family member after being branded a ‘witch’.

On October 8, the 45-year-old woman was sleeping with her two children when Rajesh alias Rajendra Tabiyar shot her to death.

The loud noise woke up the neighbours, who rushed the severely injured woman to Cottage Hospital in Bhiloda, but the on-duty doctor declared her dead on arrival.

Following the incident, police teams, including the local Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP), Special Operations Group (SOG), and Local Crime Branch (LCB), reached the scene.

Efforts have been intensified to arrest the absconding accused, Tabiyar, who fled the spot after the shooting.

The police have registered a case of murder against Tabiyar under the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act, and the Gujarat Prevention of Anti-Social Activities (PASA) Act. 

According to reports, the 45-year-old woman had been harassed repeatedly by  Tabiyar, who was a relative from her husband’s side. He believed she was a witch and often abused her, saying, “You are a witch, and I will kill you.” The family had previously filed a complaint against him with the Bhiloda police station.

However, this is not a one-of-its-kind incident in India, where women are branded as witches, tortured, humiliated and often killed. Many women across India have fallen victims to such humiliation in the past.

Age-old atrocity on women

According to annual reports of the National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB), India reported 663 murders attributed to suspected witchcraft between 2015 and 2021. 

A total of 18 women were murdered in Gujarat between 2017 and 2021, as per NCRB report.

Remote villages in Gujarat and other states have been witnessing these crimes against women. Any accidental death of a person is blamed on the woman of the family, branding her as a witch.

Sometimes, a group of people in the village humiliate, torture and kill the woman which is often termed as ‘mob lynching’ later.

The plight of women in India is such that in some villages, women are tortured and become victims of suspected witchcraft.

These women are often tortured, by depriving them of food, water and necessities. The villagers either debar them from the village, attack her, rob her dignity by removing her clothes, and paint her face black. In some extreme cases, the victims of suspected witchcraft are often fed faeces.

Most of the women who fell prey to such atrocities are widows, helpless, or poor.

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