JHARKHAND: Vishwasi Topno was once branded as a witch in her village and was being tortured physically, mentally and socially by the villagers for long. But instead of giving up, she is now helping others by educating them against witchcraft.
Vishwasi is able to do this with the help of a local Self Help Group managed by Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS). She also contested the local Panchayat polls and got elected as Panchayat Samiti Sadasya for Marcha Panchayat under Torpa Block in Khunti.
After getting attached with JSLPS under Garima Project, Vishwasi, along with other women of her team, has been conducting nukkad natak, public meetings, gram sabha, and writing anti-witchcraft slogans on the walls with a mission to eradicate the social evil from the society. Recalling her ordeal, Viswasi said that after getting married in 2002, she was branded as a witch following the death of a village youth due to some illness.
“Immediately after I got married into the village, a youth of the village died while staying in a hostel due to some disease. Afterwards, the villagers branded me as a witch and started keeping distance from me. They blamed me for the death of the youth as he died immediately after I came into the village,” said Vishwasi.
She was shattered as people would not only keep distance from her but they also spitted before her while passing by her, she added.
“I never opposed them, but I was being tortured mentally and socially by the villagers. Sometimes, I even felt like ending my life, but still, I joined an organization being formed by a civil society organization to work on health and other issues. Since I was the most educated among other women in the village, I started leading the team,” said Vishwasi, further adding that, “I never let social humiliation hinder my work as I knew that there is nothing like witch in this world, and one day or the other, I would be able to convince them.”
Despite being tortured, Vishwasi kept on focusing on her work. “In between, another civil society organization -- PRADAAN came to the village in 2018 and I joined it as ‘Swasthya Badlav Didi’ Later, I got selected as a Block Resource Person under ‘Project Garima’ of JSLPS after I cleared written, and interview as well,” said Viswasi. She was given training in theater, painting and nukkad natak following which she started creating awareness against witch hunting in and around her village, she said.
Vishwasi said that when she meets victims of witchcraft, she tells them about her own ordeal to boost up their morale, so that they can also come out of the trauma and join the mainstream. Now, she can see the change, as earlier they used to remain shy and were afraid to mix up with the society, but one can see smile on their faces, she said.Other women of the village also praised the way Vishwasi came over her ordeal.
“Even though she was attached to one or two civil society organizations in the past, she was reluctant to join JSLPS due to lack of confidence. We forced her to appear in written and interview for the project which she successfully cleared and now she has been working as a cadre against the social evil and doing her job very well,” said SHG secretary Ashita Topno.
JSLPS functionaries also asserted that Viswasi and her team is successfully running a campaign against witchcraft in Torpa region by conducting nukkad natak and other activities besides doing survey to find out whether anybody is being tortured in the name of witchcraft.
“When they come across any such women, they help them in coming out of the trauma through a series of counseling to develop confidence among them so that they could also lead a dignified life. Sometimes, professional art therapists are also roped in to help the victims,” said Torpa Bock Area C ordinator of JSLPS, Priyanka Topno.Priyanka informed that ‘Project Garima’ was launched to check harassment of women in the name of witchcraft and ensure dignified life to them. Under the project, all those women who were tortured, or being tortured in the name of witchcraft, are identified and made financially independent by providing various livelihood opportunities to them.