Witch hunts sound like a thing of the past. A religious fanaticism of the earlier ages. In the United States religions like Wicca and other pagan cultures are the fastest growing faiths and followings. However, the same acceptance is not uniform in many places.
After two men died in the village of Gujarat, India, three women were accused of the murders and then feasting upon the souls of the young men. They were surrounded by men carrying iron pipes and wooden sticks and beaten in front of a gathering crowd. The villagers screamed “Dakan” at then, the local word for witch. This happened in 2014 and is only one of the thousands of witch hunts that have happened in India. More than 2,500 Indians have been persecuted and killed for witchcraft between 2000 and 2016. The number is estimated to be higher, however, because witchcraft is not considered a motive for murder in many places throughout the country (Religious Discrimination, 2020).
Women in India are the main targets for witchcraft discrimination and the caste system is often exploited as well as the strong patriarchy culture. Men often target the witches based on deeply rooted superstition, misogyny, and patriarchy that gives them the power to blame the women. Historically, the accusations were used to oust women from land that men wanted. Witches are also a convenient excuse for the rising rates of infant mortality, and deaths caused by disease such as malaria, typhoid and cholera (Religious Discrimination, 2020).
Anti-witch hunting laws have been passed in several states, but Gujarat is not one of those. Women fight back with their resistance group ANADI. The group is a non-profit that supports vulnerable communities. Women share their stories in circles where they sit on the floor and shar samosas. They find strength in protecting each other, learning the laws, demanding a desk in the police department for an advocate for women (Religious Discrimination, 2020) .
Sub-Saharan Africa also sees witch hunts in modern times. In Ghana, it is common for disputes to be settled with accusations of witchcraft. Sometimes, the simple accusation is all it takes to remove one of the members of the argument. Witchcraft is perceived as a legitimate threat in the country to the point of the establishment of eight prisons for the victims/ prisoners of witch hunts. Over 1,100 people were reported to have been imprisoned in these places in 2014. These are the lucky ones who escaped murder at the hands of the towns and villages (Religious Discrimination, 2020).
President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia ordered a group of government witch hunters to round up nearly 1000 villagers in 2009. They were taken to confidential governmental detention centers and forced to consume hallucinogenic substances which caused instant diarrhea and vomiting from the poisonous herbs the liquids contained. They were then tortured and beaten until confessions of witchcraft were made. The victims were both young and elderly, men and women. Of the 1000 taken prisoner, miraculously only 2 died. Jammah is notorious for his unethical practices, such as the time in 2007 when he claimed to have discovered an herbal cure for HIV and ordered the execution of all homosexuals in Gambia . Both acts were reported to Amnesty International (Kantor, 2018).
Kenyon with hunts date back centuries but still occur today. In 2008, it is documented that a mob trapped 11 people and burned them to death for alleged witchcraft activities. There were eight women and three men killed that night ranging in age from 80 to 96. The victims were dragged from their houses individually and burned, then their houses were burned to the ground. This was all caused by a book someone found that supposedly kept a documentation of a witches meeting. This type of attack is shockingly, and saddeningly, common in Kenya (Kantor, 2018).
Nepal has a widespread belief in witchcraft, and a widespread custom of witch hunts. Most victims are women of a lower caste who are rounded up, beaten, humiliated in public, and ultimately murdered. The families of the alleged ‘witch’ also suffer the same fate. In 2010 a woman was accused of witchcraft, beaten, tortured and forced to consume human excrement until finally confessing to witchcraft two days later. Many times, the victim in this country is released after a confession but that is not always the case (Kantor, 2018).
Muslims in Saudi Arabia live with a deep fear of sorcery and witchcraft. It is considered a legitimate criminal offence. When one is accused of practicing witchcraft, they will be tried by the government and, if found guilty, the punishment is death. If the case is a high-profile individual, the sentence may be life imprisonment rather than death. Reports of governmentally sanctioned witch hunting can be seen as recently as June, 2012. Muree bin Issa al-Asiri was accused of witchcraft and sorcery in southern Saudi Arabia (Kantor, 2018).
Other countries perdue witches as well. I encourage further research.
Learning Wicca and the Tradition of the Craft 