HC asks Jharkhand to take Jhalsa help

Ranchi: Jharkhand high court has expressed concern over the government's efficacy in creating awareness against witchcraft.
A division bench of the high court comprising chief justice Virendra Singh and justice Chandrashekhar has directed the principal secretary of the social welfare department to contact the member secretary of Jharkhand legal services authority (Jhalsa) for a joint awareness drive.The court also directed the state government to provide information about witch-hunt cases till May 2016 before the next date of hearing on July 27.
A PIL was registered by the high court in its own motion in 2015 and on May 11, 2016, a Suchitra Pandey was appointed amicus curie to assist the court in getting more details. It was on her request that the court agreed to hear the case on Wednesday that was otherwise slated to be heard on August 31. Pandey brought to the notice of court that despite the matter being heard by the court, several cases of witch hunting have been occured during the last three-four months in different parts of the state.
The division bench observed that though the state has not filed latest status of witch hunting as per supplementary counter affidavit filed by the state during earlier date of hearing as many as 3854 cases of witch hunting (dayan hatya) have been reported in different police stations of the state during the period 2007 till September 2015. "Counsel representing the state must submit latest figures of witch hunting till May 2016 by the next date of hearing," the order read. It further mentions -What really disturbs the court is the fact that the state has not taken any serious, effective and corrective measure to make people aware of the evils of witch craft.
The court has specifically mentioned, quoting media reports that many women have been branded witches and subjected to torture and lynched even in Ranchi that too after chief minister flagged off vans on August, 2015 to create awareness among masses.
Taking a cue from media reports that secretary social welfare, MS Bhatia has shared government's plan to take out much intensive campaign now, court informed that even JHALSA also has its mobnile vans for the purpose of reaching out to people under different awareness programmes. "It would be most appropriate if JHALSA coordinates with the social welfare department and kicks off effective awareness programme with regard to witch hunting covering the most affected districts," the order read.