The Persecution of Witches or a Murder of Humanity

Assam is a northern-eastern Indian state. It is also well-known for its rich culture, biodiversity, tea gardens, and tribal communities. Geographically, Assam is so abundant that, in ancient India, several tribal groups traveled from other regions of the world and settled here, scilicet the Mongolians, Indo-Burmese, Indo-Iranians, and Aryans. Assam is home to 18 prominent tribes, many of which inhabit mountainous regions. For the socio-economic development of such tribes, the Government of India and the Assam State Government have introduced many schemes to improve their standing in society; consequently, we can say with pride that most of such tribes are literate. However, despite their education, many still believe in black magic, spiritual enchantment, and witchcraft. We often learn via the news that a woman was slain by hawking stones or burnt alive because society believed she was a witch; it can even be termed as "A flawless strategy to annihilate humanity." The issue is whether they have observed actual sorcery or were induced to accept such claims of black magic. It is difficult to imagine women killed for such outlandish motives in the 21st century. In India, such violence is more prevalent in rural regions than urban ones. The question is why it is done, the underlying objective, and whether any Acts have been enacted to safeguard women. This paper serves as a response to such inquiries. Witch-hunting is reported across many states in India, but this paper will partially be state-centric; it will cover the other states of India but primarily will focus on North – Eastern States