This is reality for a startling amount of people:

Married to a man in nearby Boya village in 2012, Lamay was anything but ‘sane’ to her in-laws. “I had not recovered from my illness. I would cry almost all the time and not eat. It didn’t take them too long to accuse me of practicing witchcraft and labelling me crazy.”

The horrific account of her marital life entails multiple visits to an ojha (shaman), a sorcerer and a good witch capable of faith healing and ridding one’s body of ‘possessions’ and ‘spirits’.

Lamay recounts the torture she was subjected to during her treatment by the ojha. “He would hit me repeatedly with a chaabuk (whip) until my body bled. I would keep screaming in pain and agony but he wouldn’t let go of me saying that he was not hurting me but was beating the evil spirits out of me,” recalls Lamay.

Who Cares About The Mental Health Of Victims Of Witch Hunting?

In Jharkhand, there is no accounting of the mental health effects of being marked a ‘witch’

^{Swati Shikha (Outlook India)}