Modern-Day Indian Witch-Hunts

In August of this year, residents of a village in Jharkhand state, India were subjected to fatal abductions from their homes, and severe beating. These residents, five women, were all accused of practicing witchcraft and were then blamed for unlucky accidents that occurred throughout the village.

Superstitious beliefs fueled these attacks, and prompted the death of these women. The beliefs of those we’ve studied throughout the semester also – coupled with economic problems, political unrest, and a plethora of other factors – were victimized and suffered as a result of their actions, and of accusations thrown against them. Through our studies, we’ve seen women accused of witchcraft for poor weather patterns, illnesses, reduced crop growth, and many other qualms that still occur today.

With the arrest of fifty villagers involved in the attack, this would appear to be a larger incident in a smaller village. We’ve seen mass prosecutions occur, such as in Basque and Wurzburg, which make these numbers seem like drops in a bucket in comparison, they are still lives that have been taken too soon, and taken forcefully by others. 

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Witch Hunts in Europe vs Witch Hunts in Africa

A laymen would believe the witch-hunts in Europe to be a backwards, disorganized affair. However time and time again it shown that the witch-hunts in Europe were a very legalized, record based process. The witch-hunts would never have taken off and been as widespread without the growth of the legal powers of the church and state. Only when inquisitors were given the ability to coerce "information" out of the accused "witches" could the ideas behind the cumulative concept become legitimate and widespread. (Levack 304-305)

In Europe there were tens of thousands of of prosecutions, which can be attributed to the legal process. In Africa however while there have been witch-hunts and witch cleansing, they have not reached the heights that they did Europe. This can in part be attributed to cultural differences and the lack of Christian influence in Africa. Levack seems to argue however that it was in fact a lack of a legal process in Africa that has kept the numbers of the accused from reaching dramatic levels. In Africa the prosecutions and executions were all in the form of vigilante justice. There was no legal process and no torture therefore the cumulative concept could never take root in Africa.

Are there any other reasons that witch-hunts in Africa did not reach dramatic levels?

What other differences do we see between European witch-hunts and African witch-hunts? 

Witch-hunts and the Modern State

      An interesting aspect of the reading by Levack is that although the specific hunting of witches has for the most part ended in western nations the same processes that caused it remain. The fear of modern social deviants has resulted in similar persecution as those perceived to be witches in early modern Europe. In the United States there were witch-hunts for communists during the Cold War and in Europe during Nazi occupation, Jews and other social and ethnic minorities were persecuted to an extent that dwarfs the persecutions experienced by perceived witches in the past. The main difference between the witch-hunts of early modern Europe and those that have happened more recently or could potentially happen in the future is that it is the modern state in western society that is mainly persecuting "witches". Should they be they members of a particular ideology contrary to their government's positions or styled terrorists the people now representing witches can be persecuted on a much larger scale than was ever possible when it was mainly local communities who were responsible for persecutions. Although witches are not necessarily being persecuted currently, the the capacity for witch-hunt style persecutions against others is just as great now as it was during the early modern era in Europe.    




Do you believe that mass persecution in the style of witch-hunts is possible today? How is it that the change in the source of the persecution from local communities to the state has changed the groups being targeted for mass persecution?

The Decline of Witch-Hunting

I have always supported the idea that the use of torture perpetuated the witch-hunts and was one of the most important factors that kept the witch-hunts alive for as long as they were. In the 17th and 18th century however the widespread witch-hunts began to dwindle, so much so that by 1782 the last officially sanctioned witch execution took place. (Levack 253) This decline and eventual end is largely thanks to the prohibition of torture. In the 17th and 18th century many critics of torture began to emerge, deeming it an inefficient method for obtaining information, pointing out its many flaws. One such critic was Christian Thomasius, Thomasius is quoted saying "I am afraid that if someone tortures you or me, we will confess to everything that the torturer wants to demand." (Kors and Peters 447) As more and more ideas similar to these began to emerge pressure was put on administrations that utilized torture until it eventually subsided.

Why do you think critics of torture took so long to emerge or vocalize?
What other aspects helped lead to the decline of the witch-hunts?