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Witchcraft: ‘10 women’ victims every year
KATHMANDU, AUG 04 -
Every year 10 women are tortured in the name of practicing witchcraft in Nepal, according to Inter Party Women’s Alliance (IPWA).
In a paper presented at a workshop on “Violence on women on the charge of witchcraft” here on Wednesday, IPWA said the incidents of torturing women on the accusation of practicing witchcraft are still high.
Poverty, lack of awareness, social discrimination, and other anomalies existing in society are spurring the superstition of witchcraft, said women rights activists.
Constituent Assembly member and human right activist Shyam Shrestha said that detention of culprits is only a temporary way of providing justice to the tortured women. “By ousting economic and gender discrimination
and by publicising empirical knowledge, we may be able to get permanently rid of witchcraft,” said Shrestha.
Shedding light on the factors contributing to witchcraft, another paper presenter Dr. Nirakarman Shrestha said there are no grounds to dictate witchcraft as a woman’s practice of black magic.
“It is a mere delusion and the effect of sleep paralysis”, he said.
Participants also questioned some of the paper presenters about excessive portrayal of stories and photographs of some women tortured for allegedly practicing witchcraft.
In response, IPWA Secretary Sabitra Bhusal said she had used the photos of some women with their consent.
Posted on: 2010-08-05 08:41
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