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GUWAHATI/GOALPARA: Padma Shri Birubala Rabha, who championed the cause of the movement against witch-hunting in the state, breathed her last at the GMCH (Gauhati Medical College and Hospital) at 9.23 this morning.
She was 75. Her mortal remains were consigned to flames with state honours at her native village, Thakurvila, in the Goalpara district today.
State Governor Gulab Chand Kataria and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma condoled her death.
According to a GMCH bulletin, the Padma Shri awardee was admitted to the GMCH in the Department of Pain and Palliative Medicines due to severe weakness and dizziness. She had been a patient with carcinoma oesophagus at an advanced stage since April 23, 2021. She was under treatment at the State Cancer Institute at the GMCH.
Born in 1954 at Thakurvila in the Goalpara district, Birubala Rabha championed the cause of her movement against witch-hunting. Her father died when she was six, forcing her to drop out of school to help her mother run household chores. At 15, she was married to a farmer, with whom she had three children.
In 1985, her mentally ill eldest son, Dharmeswar, suffered from typhoid, leading Rabha and her husband to take him to a village quack, who told them that Dharmeswar had been possessed by a fairy who had married him. The quack also told them that Dharmeswar impregnated the fairy and that he would die soon after the birth of the child.
According to the quack, Dharmeswar had only three days to live. However, he eventually recovered, living long after his diagnosis. After this incident, Rabha stopped visiting quacks.
Initially, Rabha formed the Thakurvila Mahila Samity to raise awareness of various social ills, including witch-hunting, and in 2006 she involved herself with the Assam Mahila Samata Society. In 2011, she founded Mission Birubala, a non-profit organisation made up of a network of social activists, survivors, and lawyers that aims to educate and spread awareness against witch-hunting, as well as support and protect survivors and potential victims of witch hunts across the state of Assam.
In 2015, the activist’s campaigning prompted the Assam government to pass The Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention, and Protection) as recognition for her work against witch-hunting in Assam. She received numerous awards and accolades. In 2005, she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by the Northeast Network, and in 2015, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Gauhati University. In 2021, she was recognised by the Government of India for her social work and campaigning with the Padma Shri.
On behalf of the state government, Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary paid tribute to the activist at the GMCH, where he made the decision taken by the Chief Minister to perform her last rites with state honours.
After that, her body was taken to her native village in the Goalpara district, where her mortal remains were consigned to flames in the presence of state government’s representative minister, Jayanta Mallabaruah, and thousands of people.
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