Bhubaneswar: In a bid to protect women from being branded witch through the prevailing hunting and other similar practices, the Assembly today unanimously passed the Odisha Prevention of Witch-Hunting Bill, 2013 with provisions of imprisonment up to seven years and penalty for offenders.
Odisha became the fourth state in the country after Bihar, Chhattishgarh and Jharkhand to have special legislation against the practice of witch-hunting, said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kalpataru Das.
While 31 women were killed after being branded witch in 2010 in the state, 39 and 35 women died under similar circumstances in 2011 and 2012 respectively, he said.
The Orissa High Court last year asked the state to make a legislation to deal with such crimes.
While introducing the bill, the minister said it was found that women were deliberately being branded witch by men after they failed to exploit them sexually or to snatch their properties.
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