The Supreme Court held that each case of inhumane and degrading incidents against women accused of witchcraft potentially went against the spirit of the Constitution.
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
The Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a judgment that the disrobing, grievous assault and public humiliation committed on two women in rural Bihar in 2020 amounted to a blot on the constitutional spirit of equality and dignity.
A Bench of Justices C.T. Ravikumar and Sanjay Karol castigated the Patna High Court for staying the criminal proceedings against the accused persons and the Bihar government for not pursuing the case to bring justice to the women.
“Witchcraft is deeply intertwined with superstition, patriarchy and social control, leaving it to no manner of surprise that such allegations were most often directed against women who were either widows or elderly. A variety of reasons are accepted to be the reasons for casting such aspersions- caste-based discrimination, retaliation for defying social norms, etc,” Justice Karol observed in a 19-page judgment.
The court held that each case of inhumane and degrading incidents against women accused of witchcraft potentially went against the spirit of the Constitution.
“Dignity goes to the very core of the existence of an individual in society. Any action which undermines dignity either by an act of another person or that of the State is potentially going against the spirit of the Constitution of India,” the court highlighted, reviving the trial against the accused in the case.
“Incidents such as the one before us, as also many others that come across our desks, keep us alive to the on-ground reality that however much has been done by way of legislative, executive and judicial action to protect vulnerable sections of the society, in this context women, from exploitation, its effect has not permeated to the grassroot level,” the court said.
Published – December 20, 2024 02:57 am IST
