Chhattisgarh High Court reduces jail term awarded to man convicted for killing aunt on suspicions of witchcraft

The fact that superstitious beliefs still prevail in parts of the country was recently factored in by the Chhattisgarh High Court to reduce the prison sentence imposed on a man convicted for killing his aunt over suspicions that his wife fell ill on account of witchcraft by the aunt [Madan Lal Sahu v. State of Chhattisgarh]. .A bench of Justices Sanjay K Agrawal and Radhakishan Agrawal took note of submissions that the convict hailed from a backward area. It was common knowledge that the convict and the deceased woman belonged to an underdeveloped community, most of whose members were illiterate and believed in superstitions, the Court was told..The Court further observed that in areas dominated by the community, magic and witchcraft were practiced to achieve goals, both good and bad. Often, women are declared as witches and even the panchayat has been known to pass weird orders against such women, the Court added.."They hold many superstitions responsible for any misfortune and mis-happenings in their life and sometimes they became revengeful for no other reason but for their own doubts that someone is playing witchcrafts on them or something wrong had been happened in their family or life due to witchcrafts played by someone (sic),” the judgment stated..In the present case, a trial court had awarded life imprisonment to the convict for the offence of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The convict moved the High Court in appeal against his conviction as well as his sentence..The High Court noted that all the others co-accused had been acquitted in the case. The Court proceeded to find that there was no premeditation to commit murder on the part of the accused, when he assaulted his taiji with a sharp weapon, ultimately causing her death..Rather, the Court found the convict had attacked his taiji on suspicious that witchcraft played by the deceased woman was the reason for his wife suffering from a serious ailment. As such, he appeared to have attacked the deceased out of anger, the Court observed..Therefore, the Court set aside his conviction for murder and instead convicted him under Section 304, Part II of the IPC, which deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder..In view of the modified conviction, his life sentence was also set aside. Further, considering that the convict had already remained in jail for over nine years, the Court also reduced his prison sentence to the sentence already undergone. He was ordered to be released from jail unless he was required to remain imprisoned in connection with any other case..His trial court conviction and sentence under Section 4 of the Chhattisgarh Tonhi Pratadna Adhiniyam (the State’s law against “witch” hunting) was, however, upheld..Advocate Indira Tripathi appeared for the appellant (convict) and Deputy Government Advocate Sudeep Verma appeared for the State government. .[Read Judgment]