MP tops country in murders linked to witchcraft, CG ranks 2nd: NCRB data

Bhopal: National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data has revealed that Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest number of murders linked to witchcraft in the country in 2024. According to the NCRB’s Crime in India 2024 report released on May 6, at least 17 murders in the state were committed with witchcraft as the motive.Chhattisgarh ranked second with 10 such murders. Together, the two central Indian states accounted for 27 of the 54 witchcraft-related murders reported across the country in 2024--exactly half of the national total.Apart from MP and Chhattisgarh, nine other states reported murders linked to witchcraft or suspicion of occult practices. These included Odisha, Telangana, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Bihar, Maharashtra, Haryana, Nagaland and Andhra Pradesh.The latest figures are particularly concerning for Madhya Pradesh as the number of such murders increased from 14 in 2023 to 17 in 2024, even as the national total declined from 74 to 54 during the same period.In 2023, Jharkhand had recorded the highest number of witchcraft-related murders at 22, followed by Chhattisgarh with 19, while MP stood third with 14 cases. In 2022, Chhattisgarh topped the list with 25 murders, followed by MP with 20 and Jharkhand with 11. The national total that year was 85.The NCRB data indicates a steady decline in such murders in Chhattisgarh over the past three years, while Madhya Pradesh has shown an upward trend, moving from second place in 2022 to third in 2023 before emerging as the highest in 2024.The NCRB categorises murders linked to witchcraft separately from cases involving child or human sacrifice. Madhya Pradesh reported no murders under the child/human sacrifice category in 2024. The state had reported two such murders in 2023 and none in 2022.