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Reducing the problem is a delay in release of crime data.
The most recent NCRB report is available, from 2022, except for intervals in updated data for 2023 and 2024. The Ministry of Home Affairs has cited the complexity of data collection and verification as the causes of delay, but obstructs the absence of crime reports on time effective policy intervention.
Odisha prevention of the Witch-Shiksha Act, 2013, crime for witch-branding, imposes strict punishment, and provides protection to the victims. However, enforcement in many rural areas remains weak, where social beliefs override the legal preventive.
Why are such crimes still flourish in Odisha? There is poverty mixture, lack of education, and inadequate healthcare fuel belief in attitude.
In many rural areas, diseases and misfortune are still attributed to supernatural forces rather than medical or economic reasons. The reluctance of the victims and their families to report cases, either legal awareness, or lack of social pressure, allows uncontrolled due to lack of confidence in law enforcement.
In addition, the Act lacks provisions to deal with the deep roots faced by the victims social stigma and osterestion.
Efforts to curb such crimes have so far brought visible changes, as tribal-prone districts such as Mayurbhanj, Kenjhar, Sundargarh, Malakangiri and Ganjam are looking at the most cases.
Superstition often serves as a mask for more frightening purposes, including land disputes, personal rivalry, and almost unqualified gender bias. Women, in particular, become an easy goal, as witchcraft allegations are often used to justify violence against them.
The NCRB has consistently placed Odisha in the country for witch-shikar matters behind Jharkhand.
However, these figures are only responsible for reported cases. Many incidents become unregistered due to fear, social stigma and mistrust in law enforcement, causing the actual scale to be very large.
Community engagement, strict implementation of laws, and constant awareness campaigns can destroy these regressive beliefs and break the cycle of violence and misinformation that fuel these crimes. Till then, Odisha is haunted by a dark reality, a one where superstition, conflict and systemic failures continue to cost the cost of life.
(The author is a PhD candidate, journalism and mass communication in Ubalo, Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
