Ranchi, November 10 (IANS)| Chutni Devi remembers very well the date of 3rd September 1995. On this day, when the pain of the atrocities committed by the Panchayat sitting in the village, even today, when it rises in his chest, the wounds turn green once again. Tears start falling from his eyes. The neighbor’s daughter was ill and the crime was blamed on her forehead, saying that you are a witch. You want to kill the child by doing magic. The panchayat imposed a fine of five hundred rupees on him. Chutni Devi paid the fine due to the fear of the bullies. But the sick girl did not recover even the next day, so on September 4, forty-fifty people raided her house together. Took them out. Clothes were pulled from his body. was brutally beaten. Not only this, even excreta and urine were thrown at them. But, this is the past of Chutni Devi. The Chutni Devi you will meet today is recognized as a ‘Veerangana’ who has brought the women who have been harassed as witches and ghosts across Jharkhand out of a hellish life. This Chutni Devi, a resident of Birbans village in Seraikela-Kharsanwa district of Jharkhand, was honored with Padma Shri by the President of the country on Tuesday.
It is the effect of the campaign led by Chutni Devi against witch torture that people in Chaibasa, Seraikela-Kharsanwa, Khunti, Chakradharpur in Jharkhand as well as in the border areas of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Bengal and Odisha, Chutni Devi is now a big name. People mention him with great respect. Chutni Devi tells that after the incident that happened in 1995, she has faced immense hardships to reach this place today. Whenever she remembers the old days, goosebumps stand up. She says, “After the September 4 incident, it became difficult for my in-laws to stay at my in-laws’ house. Even my husband left her. I have three children. I left the village in the middle of the night with all three. At a relative’s place. She stopped, but here also she was in danger from people who called her a witch. She somehow reached her brother’s house in Adityapur after crossing the boiling Kharkai river, but the misfortune did not leave her here too. A few days later the mother died. And then I had to leave this house too. Then, outside the village, I made arrangements to hide my head by building a hut under a tree. After working hard for eight to ten months, she somehow fed herself and the children.
What follows is a splendid tale of Chutni Devi becoming a big figure in the area. Chutni Devi met some members of the FreelegalAid Committee (FLAC) in the year 1996-97. Then, his story surfaced in the media. When the matter reached National Geographic Channel, a documentary was made on his life and struggle. Then in 2000, the NGO Association ForSocial and Human Awareness (ASHA) associated him with the campaign against social change and superstition. Staying here, he understood how superstitions can be fought with the help of law. Understand the modalities of social awareness. Then, she would go to every village where someone would get complaints of harassment by calling them a witch-exorcist. Tried to convince the villagers. More than one hundred and fifty women facing atrocities were rescued. Threats were also received, but he no longer cared for anyone. The rescued women were linked with the means of self-employment through NGOs. Training was given in sewing-weaving, handicraft, craft and other work. Asha’s Rehabilitation-cum-Counselling Center was set up in Birbans itself, which is a shelter home for the afflicted women. With the help of Chutni Devi, a new light has come in the lives of more than 500 women so far. ..and the campaign is still going on.