Rajasthan Prevention of Witch-hunting Act, 2015
No: 14 Dated: Aug, 17 2015
THE RAJASTHAN PREVENTION OF WITCH-HUNTING Act, 2015
An Act
to provide for effective measures to tackle the menace of witch-hunting and to prevent the practice of witch craft in the State of Rajasthan and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto.
Be it enacted by the Rajasthan State Legislature in the Sixty-sixth Year of the Republic of India, as follows:
1. Short title, extent and commencement.- (1) This Act may be called the Rajasthan Prevention of Witch-hunting Act, 2015.
(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Rajasthan.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint
2. Definitions.- In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) “witch” means a woman, locally known as “Dayan”, “Dakan”, “Dakin” or otherwise, who has been identified by any person or persons believing her to be in possession of, or as having, any evil power for causing any harm to any person or property;
(b) “witch craft” means use of supernatural or magical power with evil intention to call up spirit or cast spell or discover the whereabouts of stolen goods and includes such other similar practices which are known as “Tona-Totaka”, “Tantra-Mantra”, “Jadu-Tona”, “JhadPhunk” or the like;
(c) “witch doctor” means a person who is locally known as “Gunia”, “Ojha”, “Tantrik” or otherwise and claims that he has supernatural or magical power to control or cure a witch or performs any ritual purportedly to free a woman from evil spirit;
(d) “witch-hunting” means any act or conduct on the part of any person,-
(i) identifying, accusing or defaming a woman as a witch;
(ii) harassing, harming or injuring such woman whether mentally or physically or by damaging her property; and
(e) words and expressions used but not defined in this Act and de-fined in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Central Act No. 2 of 1974) or the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Central Act No. 45 of 1860) shall have the meanings assigned to them respectively in those Codes.
3. Prohibition of witch-hunting and practising witch craft.- No person shall commit witch-hunting or exercise or practise witch craft.
4. Punishment for witch-hunting.- (1) Whoever, except in the cases provided for in sub-section (2), commits witch-hunting shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year but which may extend to five years or with fine which shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees or with both.
(2) Whoever forces a woman, branding her as witch, to drink or eat any inedible substance or any obnoxious substance or parade her naked or with scanty cloths or with painted face or body or commits any similar acts which is derogatory to human dignity or displaces her from her house or other property shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three years but which may extend to seven years or with fine which shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees or with both.