No any special legislative provisions against witchcraft related violence PARSA, Nepal, AUG 17 By Nepali news papers A woman charged with practising witchcraft was beaten to death in Supauli-9 of Parsa on Thursday night. Police said 45-year-old Parwatidevi Chaudhary was assaulted by a group of villagers, accusing her of casting “evil spell” on her neighbour’s daughter Pratima Chaudhary. Chaudhary’s husband Bhagwan Raut said his wife was assaulted by a group of villagers, including Pratima, her brother Anil, Dhanraj Chaudhary, Nabin Chaudhary and Bishram Chaudhary. Bhagwan could report the incident only on Friday evening, as he was being held hostage by the villagers involved in his wife’s murder. After Bhagwan reported the case, all the male members of the village and other accused have left their homes. Police have apprehended Pasapati Devi, Sima Kumari and Renu Devi for interrogation. Parwatidevi’s body was taken to Narayani Sub-regional Hospital in Birgunj for postmortem. Deputy Superintendent of Police Basudev Khatiwada said a police team has been mobilised to Supauli for investigation. Witchcraft is the worst form of violence against women in Nepal. Various causative factors lie behind such forms of violence against women based on witchcraft. People’s attitude, social behavior, patriarchal mindset, culture, superstitious belief, granted practice/culture etc. are the root causes of witchcraft. Likewise, lack of education/illiteracy and awareness, poverty, legal illiteracy, knowledge on human rights and lack of social protection are the factors that enhance the practice of witchcraft. Another contributing factor is high prevalence of gender inequality in terms of education and rights to property which has perpetrated violence against women. There are special legislative provisions against women/human trafficking and domestic violence and many governmental and nongovernmental organizations are working in those areas but the problem of witchcraft related violence got less attention and priority from the government and civil society as well. There are no any special legislative provisions against witchcraft related violence in the country and very few governmental and nongovernmental organizations are working in the area of witchcraft related violence.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 05:10:15 +0000
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