Ranchi, April 18: Lukewarm efforts by the government to strictly implement the Witchcraft Prohibition Act, 2001, has driven Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), a free legal aid body, to act. Having identified as many as 150 cases of women being mentally and physically tortured in Santhal Pargana districts of Deoghar, Dumka and Giridih alone this year, it now wants to extend legal assistance to the victims. “We recently held a public hearing in Dumka, where as many as 150 women, who are regularly tortured by their village men or kin, sought legal assistance,” said Kripamani Surin, a lawyer associated with HRLN. She said 24 of these cases are already in Dumka court, but due to lack of legal assistance to them, the culprits continue to walk free. |