'Witch' ordered to leave village

JAIPUR: At a time when the state government has come up with Rajasthan Women (Prevention & Protection from Atrocities) Bill, 2011 which has stringent provisions against branding women as witch, one more such incident has been reported in Ajmer district.
A woman was allegedly tortured and was forced to leave her village after some residents there branded her a dayan (witch).The woman has approached the police and demanded protection. She says that some people wanted to grab her property for which they have termed her a 'dayan' and issued a diktat that she should immediately leave her house.
The victim, Jadav Devi, is a resident of Rampura village. She approached some activists of non-government organizations who took her to the superintendent of police, Ajmer, Vipin Kumar Pandey. After she lodged a complaint, the SP has asked the local police station to investigate the matter and provide security to the woman.
"In the complaint, she has claimed that recently some people started saying that she was a witch and was performing evil witchcraft over villagers. Some of them include her relatives," said a senior police officer.
He added that these villagers came to her house and asked her to leave the village. "They first beat her up and then said that if she did not follow the diktat, they will keep torturing her. They also said that no villager will talk to her as she had been excluded from the society. She would not be allowed to fetch water from the public handpump. They said that she would also be not invited to any public function," said the officer. "She also says some relatives of her want to grab her property. That is why they are branding her a witch," the officer added.
After a spate of such incidents in the state, a major thrust has been given to protecting women who are tortured or killed after being branded as witches, with the state government coming out with Rajasthan Women (Prevention & Protection from Atrocities) Bill, 2011.
The bill proposes a maximum of 10-year-imprisonment to the accused if the woman commits suicide due to harassment.
For those who brand woman a witch, the law has a provision to award three years imprisonment. The land grabbers might end up behind bars for seven years.