Assam: Woman in Gossaigaon Murdered on Suspicion of Witchcraft

GUWAHATI: In a heinous incident, an elderly woman was allegedly brutally murdered in the Gossaigaon area of Assam on suspicion of witchcraft on Tuesday night.

The incident occurred at Paharpur in Satyapur under the jurisdiction of Gossaigaon police station in Kokrajhar district of Assam.

The victim was identified as Maino Hasda, wife of late Mosse Murmu.

As per reports, miscreants allegedly slit the throat of the elderly woman with a sharp weapon, ending her life.

The locals in Paharpur village said that they found the dead body of the woman with a slit throat which seemed like a case of witch hunting.

They also said that people used to suspect her of witchcraft and often called her ‘witch’.

Meanwhile, the Assam Government tabled the Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Bill, 2023 in the state legislative assembly on Wednesday.

The proposed legislation aims to promote social awareness and create a safe, science-based environment to safeguard public health from harmful practices rooted in ignorance and ill-intent. It seeks to eradicate non-scientific healing practices that exploit innocent individuals.

 Section 3 of the bill grants the government the authority to prohibit harmful or magical healing practices for specific diseases and health disorders. Additionally, Section 4 enables the government to ban deceptive advertisements related to such practices.

The newly proposed bill contains crucial sections targeted at eliminating inhumane, harmful, or magical healing practices. Section 5 grants the government the authority to penalize any act or promotion of such practices. Section 6 expands on this, stipulating imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of Rs 50,000, or both, for offenders.

For repeat offenses, those convicted could face up to five years in prison, a fine of Rs 1 lakh, or both. Furthermore, Section 9 authorizes the government to designate police officers as Vigilance officers. Section 16 of the bill grants the government the authority to establish rules for the implementation of the bill's provisions.

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