India: Woman, Infant Burned to Death Over Witchcraft Accusation
Are witchcraft killings driven by lack of health care access or systematic violence targeting vulnerable women?
Image credit: Unsplash
The Spin
Narrative A
Superstition and lack of health care access in remote tribal areas fuel deadly witchcraft accusations that claim innocent lives. In this case, when a local man died after an illness, a mob burned a mother and infant to death based on baseless rumors. This brutal violence stems from poverty, isolation and dependence on quacks where no real medical system exists.
Narrative B
Witchcraft-related violence highlights a systematic pattern of targeting vulnerable women across India, not isolated incidents of superstition. Over 2,500 people have been killed since 2000, with about 100 murders annually continuing today. Single, widowed and isolated women face severe abuse, sexual violence and social ostracism under the guise of witchcraft accusations.