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Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Witchcraft killings expose Bihar's deep-rooted superstition crisis
1 2 Patna: The night of July 6 in a remote Purnia village turned into a scene of unimaginable horror. Around 50 people allegedly set ablaze five members of Sita Devi's family, accusing the 45-year-old woman of practising witchcraft. By morning, the scheduled tribe household, including three women, had been reduced to ashes. Police at Muffassil registered a case against 23 named people and several unidentified others. Yet, despite national outrage and the arrest of 10 suspects, justice feels distant for those left behind. Ten days after the atrocity, the National Human Rights Commission took suo motu cognizance of the killings and issued notices to the chief secretary and the state's director general of police. But for villagers in state's remote pockets, this was not an isolated outrage but part of a grim, recurring pattern. Superstition and fear hold sway where education and healthcare are scarce. In such places, accusations of "witchcraft" are common, often targeting vulnerable women – but not exclusively. Only last week, a 45-year-old man in a Gaya village met a gruesome fate. Accused of "black magic" and blamed for another villager's death, he was tortured, his tongue cut off and killed. Bihar was the first state to enact the Prevention of Witch Practices Act in 1999. The law makes it a crime to identify someone as a witch, abet such an act or perform harmful rituals against them. Offences can carry prison sentences ranging from three months to a year, along with fines. Yet, more than two decades later, the law remains little more than ink on paper in many rural hearts and minds. According to additional director general (weaker section) Amit Jain, Gaya, Aurangabad, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Motihari police district are among the worst affected. Between Jan and May this year, 192 witchcraft-related cases were reported in Bihar, excluding the Purnia tragedy, though police dismissed 32 as unfounded. The numbers were far higher in recent years – 621 in 2024 and 629 in 2023. Police data since 2019 show the peak in 2020 with 797 cases reported during the Covid pandemic. But activists warn that these official figures mask the true scale. Santosh Sharma of a Delhi-based trust working with victims says, "During a survey in 2023, 148 women from 118 villages in around 10 districts came forward to tell their tale while many didn't want to speak up for fear of retaliation." By her estimation, based on field data, as many as 70,000 women in Bihar's 44,000 villages could be facing violence linked to witchcraft allegations at this moment. The silence is deafening. Neither the state's One Stop Centres nor its 181 Women Helpline has received formal complaints of witch-hunting. "The majority of victims don't even go to panchayats or police. Those who do often find no support. In many cases, panchayats play a negative role," Sharma says. She recalls a chilling 2023 case from Gaya, where a Dalit woman and her husband were burned alive after refusing to undergo a "trial" organised by the village. They had already approached the police, but in vain. Police, however, insist they are working to raise awareness. "Our weaker section division and women police stations organise meetings in rural areas to sensitise people about the Act. Every year during the Sonepur Harihar Kshetra Fair, we distribute pamphlets to spread awareness," Jain says. Sharma's organisation has also engaged with panchayats and even with some 'ojhas' (sorcerers). "Most ojhas target a vulnerable woman after some misfortune, like a death in the family or crop loss. But a few have promised to play a positive role after the Purnia incident," she says, adding that they must be brought under legal scrutiny. However, awareness among grassroots leaders is shockingly low. "We talked to 81 panchayat mukhiyas during our survey – 61 didn't know about the witchcraft prevention law and only two had discussed it in gram sabha," Sharma reveals. She believes the govt must educate panchayats and involve popular rural women's groups like Jeevika didis in the fight. Social welfare department secretary Bandana Preyashi says that while regular awareness programmes address violence against women, there is no specific campaign against witch-hunting. Nor is there a dedicated rehabilitation scheme. "Victims can access temporary shelter through One Stop Centres and Short Stay Homes," she says. Psychologists warn that temporary aid is insufficient. Survivors often suffer lifelong trauma – from post-traumatic stress and anxiety to intergenerational scars and self-harm. For thousands of others living under the shadow of suspicion, the fear is not of spirits or spells, but of neighbours, mobs and a justice system too slow to save them. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
Mint
03-08-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Sita Devi of Baroda: The 'maharani' who never was
On 6 November 1943, Meka Rangaiah Appa Rao—zamindar of Vuyyuru in today's Andhra Pradesh—received a letter from his wife of ten years. It was a short paragraph, probably worded by a lawyer, and carried important news. 'I have become a Moslem," the lady announced, and taken the name Sheherazade. But the crux of the matter was this: 'in order that our relationship of husband and wife might continue," she wished for Appa Rao to follow her into the new faith. When the man said no thank you, Sheherazade moved the city courts to pronounce their union invalid—a wish that was granted by Christmas Eve. With that she terminated a marriage she declared had always been unhappy. But then there was a twist, or in a colonial official's words, a 'first class scandal". For it suddenly dawned upon Sheherazade, who only days ago proclaimed to a judge that she did not 'like the Hindu faith", that she did, in fact, like it. Making use of Arya Samaj rituals, she reconverted to her ancestral religion, retired her Muslim name, and on 31 December at 9pm acquired a fresh (Hindu) husband. Her conviction in Islam had lasted under three months; the moment her divorce was confirmed, Sheherazade became, once again, Sita Devi, princess of Pithapuram. The marriage of Pratap Singh Rao Gaekwad, maharaja of Baroda, and Sita Devi was one of princely India's most entertaining—but also legally complicated—episodes, sparking all species of bureaucratic nightmares and the loss of some tremendous jewels. Things looked unpromising from the start, what with the bride's father denouncing her. Sita Devi was the daughter of Surya Rao of Pithapuram, a princely patron of the Telugu language. In a press statement, he expressed 'unqualified condemnation" of his daughter, noting the 'grief and horror" caused by her 'outrageous abuse" of Islam and Hinduism to discard a husband. Many nostrils flared in indignation also at the thought of her nine-year-old son. Of course, her new husband was resoundingly criticised too: as the British representative in Baroda noted, the maharaja had breached his own state's monogamy laws, betrayed its tradition of progressive rule, and public sympathy was unequivocally with his wife, Shanta Devi—the mother of eight children. Though 'greatly shocked", her willingness to 'acquiesce patiently in anything which contributes to her husband's happiness" only made him look worse. It was not as if Indian princes had not taken multiple wives before—one maharaja is said to have been ribbed as 'His Exhausted Highness" because of his numerous romantic conquests. But Pratap Singh's grandfather, Sayaji Rao Gaekwad, had been famous for his modernity, enlightened public policy, monogamy (though he did allegedly have the odd extramarital affair) and for taking Baroda to the top ranks of Indian states. As a result, the people of Baroda, who prided themselves 'on being in advance of (their) neighbours", felt Pratap Singh had let them down. His defence that the Baroda Hindu Monogamy Act—which he himself had passed into law in 1942—applied only to his subjects, not to him, was preposterous. In truth, he simply did not expect the backlash. In February 1944 the British noted how the maharaja was under the impression that 'everyone would (simply) accept his right to marry when and where he liked". On being proved wrong, he maintained an air of defiance, but in private, 'His Highness' conscience is not altogether easy." It probably didn't help that his lively private affairs allowed the Indian National Congress to slam the maharaja politically as well. But neither Sita Devi nor her second husband was easily defeated. A desperate campaign was launched to win support. For one, the maharaja began to collect letters of approval from other princes like the rulers of Indore and Gwalior to demonstrate, that 'from the Maratha point of view" at least, the marriage was 'perfectly in order". Baroda law too was amended to resolve the maharaja's polygamous conundrum retrospectively. Backing for Pratap Singh arrived from one or two unexpected quarters: the Baroda State Muslim League, and V.D. Savarkar of the Hindu Mahasabha. In the latter's case, it was not so much approval of the union that led to support as fear that the scandal might become an excuse to topple a leading Hindu prince and prove 'extremely harmful to…Hindu interests". Pratap Singh also stockpiled a set of favourable legal opinions, including from stalwarts like Chimanlal Setalvad. But the situation remained hopeless: the British considered the marriage a 'fraud upon the law". The advocate general pronounced its legitimacy 'doubtful", while another top viceregal adviser argued that applying the term 'marriage" to the case was a stretch. What made things worse was blows at home. The maharaja's own minister, the celebrated V.T. Krishnamachari, baulked at the thought of kowtowing to Sita Devi. Like her father, he was horrified by the conversion charade and her first husband's ejection. So, after over 16 years of service, Krishnamachari packed his bags and left. Shanta Devi, meanwhile, although she never openly criticised her husband, was said to be in favour of withholding recognition. The idea was that these complications would cool the maharaja's 'infatuation", and that Sita Devi could be 'discreetly pensioned off". Indeed, Sita Devi was never acknowledged as either a 'Highness" or a maharani—the best the British establishment could offer in a 1945 passport was a watered down 'Lady Sita Devi". But Pratap Singh would not give up trying; with the British set to depart, he began to lobby Congress politicians. His new minister, B.L. Mitter, for example, attempted to persuade Sardar Patel in 1947 to let Sita Devi use the title of maharani, albeit without 'Her Highness" prefixed, or 'of Baroda" suffixed. She would be the maharani of nowhere, but at least a maharani of some variety. The request fell flat again. Predictably, given the age in which they lived, the couple faced a social boycott. Honeymooning in Kashmir in 1944, they found that while the state's ruler would receive Pratap Singh as a fellow maharaja, his queen refused to entertain Sita Devi. Sita Devi was forever tarnished as a 'bad" sort of woman, with an 'unsavoury past". Or as a home ministry official would put it in 1957, Sita Devi was 'a modern Cleopatra who has debauched the mind and body and caused the complete ruin of Maharaja Pratapsinh Gaekwar of Baroda." There is, of course, a whiff of sexism here, not least because Pratap Singh was hardly the ideal man or prince before Sita Devi erupted on to the scene. Indeed, at the time of their marriage it seemed already clear that he was unable to fill his illustrious grandfather's shoes. The general consolation had been that he was at least a 'model husband and father". But the moment he got handsy with a married woman, he forfeited that distinction too. If anything, official support remained firmly with Shanta Devi, who is described in the files as embodying 'the true spirit of a Hindu Dharmapathni". In the end, things doddered to an expensive anti-climax. When the princely states acceded to the Indian Union in 1947, Pratap Singh was among the first to join. But as Sita Devi's brother noted, he was a 'foolish person, and a dangerously foolish one at that." Thus, when Junagadh opted for Pakistan instead of India, creating a crisis for the government, the maharaja was asked to help maintain law and order in the region. Doing so would have won him favour—perhaps even recognition for his 'lady". But instead, he demanded that six Indian territories abutting Baroda first be handed to him (for historical reasons), and he be recognised as 'King of Gujarat and Kathiawar"; in this position, he would assist India as a 'faithful ally". Sardar Patel never forgave Pratap Singh: 'You bargained about your own position at a time when India was in difficulties." Later it was discovered that the maharaja had been pocketing crores of rupees—including from a fund his grandfather founded to back big infrastructure projects. In 1951, after he launched an ill-fated campaign for the resurrection of royal rule, including by collaborating with certain princes who had flirted with Pakistan, Pratap Singh was deposed. Sita Devi, too, was accumulating fresh layers of infamy. It appears she had been merrily taking jewels from Baroda's vaults, and when some pieces were returned under strict orders from Delhi, parts were missing. In 1955 there was furious chatter in official circles after Pratap Singh's son asked for assistance in recovering treasures she had shipped abroad. Some items were said to be in Europe, others in the custody of the American jeweller Harry Winston. The value of Sita Devi's hoard can be estimated from the fact that a single artefact that vanished from Baroda—a canopy with 950,000 Basra pearls, emeralds, rubies, etc.—was auctioned in 2019 for over $2 million. In 1956 India's deputy home secretary complained that 'Lady Sita Devi" had no right to these articles, especially after her husband was dismissed from his post. Yet, 'in spite of all efforts she did not return the jewellery to the present Ruler of Baroda". A partial list of valuables in her custody shows that she possessed everything from strands of the famous Baroda pearl necklace to milk jugs, coffee pots, and even a strainer made of gold. The sale of these pieces kept Sita Devi afloat for the rest of her days. She certainly needed the cash. For after all the drama of their marriage, in 1956 Pratap Singh and Sita Devi divorced (no high-speed religious conversion was needed this time). She moved abroad, posing among society elites as Baroda's maharani, managing to even get this entered briefly into a British passport. That same year, learning that she had also obtained a diplomatic visa for the US (allowing her to deposit jewels there, uninspected by customs), India informed the Americans that this was a grave mistake. In 1957, Sita Devi was seen at an official event in Colombo, where the Indian high commissioner noticed her in a 'place of honour…with Chou En-Lai to her right and Mrs Bandaranaike to her left". She was presented as a 'Highness", and when the diplomat came face to face with her, she was 'cold and unfriendly". Apparently, Sita Devi—who doesn't appear to have returned to India again—was aware she was out of favour for 'having smuggled out the Baroda State jewels worth several million pounds." In the end, still living off the Baroda treasures, she settled in Paris, dying in the 1980s. In all the files around the saga of 'Lady Sita Devi" and Pratap Singh, her own voice is absent. It is difficult to determine how she might have defended herself—the divorce stunt in 1943, her remarriage, and the question of an 'unrecognised" woman's claim to the dynastic riches of her second ex-husband. To the British, she posed a unique kind of difficulty. Typically, it was when maharajas married white women that they confronted problems around recognition and titles. Sita Devi's case was a rare occasion when a brown woman marrying a brown man caused a scandal. To Indian babus, she looked venal and treacherous, the opposite of the forbearing wife they saw in Shanta Devi. In any case, Sita Devi, for all the wealth she acquired, ultimately had a gloomy end: her son with Pratap Singh, 'Princie", killed himself a few years before her death. There is, though, a strange victory she enjoys in her afterlife. All her goods—from art to jewels and furniture—ended up in alien hands, appearing in auction catalogues across the world. But in what might have pleased our queen-who-never-was—and left her critics incandescent—these brochures uniformly style her as Sita Devi, maharani of Baroda. Manu S. Pillai is a historian and author, most recently, of Gods, Guns and Missionaries.
DW
24-07-2025
- Politics
- DW
Why is India rechecking 80 million voters in Bihar? – DW – 07/24/2025
The revision of the electoral roll in India's Bihar state has sparked controversy with critics and opposition parties warning of voter disenfranchisement. Sita Devi, a daily wage laborer from Nalanda, a district in India's northeastern Bihar state, has had a tough time gathering the necessary paperwork for inclusion in the draft electoral rolls. The Election Commission of India (ECI) gave voters in Bihar just weeks to prove their eligibility to vote ahead of a July 25 deadline. "I submitted my application on time but when I followed up, I was told my details were incomplete," Devi told DW. "Now, I am running from pillar to post just to get my voter ID included before the deadline." About 200 kilometers (124 miles) away, Ram Kishan, a farmer from Bihar's Gopalganj district, has spent weeks running between government buildings and the local election office to submit his application in time. "Officials keep asking for more documents. I have all these, but still, my name has not been added to the voter list," Kishan told DW. "Without this, I fear I will not be able to vote in the upcoming elections." The ECI announced the revision of the electoral rolls in June ahead of upcoming polls scheduled for November, which involves reverifying the records of nearly 80 million registered voters. The ECI said the "intensive revision" was needed to remove the names of deceased individuals, those who have permanently moved and duplicate entries — as well as avoiding the "inclusion of the names of foreign illegal immigrants." Members of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have long claimed that large numbers of undocumented Muslim migrants from neighboring Bangladesh have fraudulently entered India's electoral rolls. Bihar is one of India's largest states by population, making it a key election battleground. The outcome of November's assembly elections can impact the balance of power in the Lok Sabha (India's lower house of Parliament), where voter strength and coalition math are critical. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video People who were registered in 2003, the last time scrutiny of the voter list took place in Bihar, may submit a copy of their registration. But everybody else — around 30 million people, according to ECI estimates — are required to provide documents to establish eligibility, including proof of citizenship. The electoral commission has specified 11 documents for this purpose. A vast swathe of Bihar's rural population lacks the necessary documentation, and obtaining alternatives like domicile or caste certificates has proven difficult. Bihar's main opposition party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, challenged the ECI in the Supreme Court, along with other parties and critics of the Bihar voter roll revision operation. "It is being used to justify aggressive and opaque revisions of electoral rolls that disproportionately target Muslim, Dalit and poor [Indian] migrant communities," the court petition read. "They are not random patterns but ... engineered exclusions." India's top court allowed the special intensive revision (SIR) in Bihar to proceed, but expressed concern over its timing and fairness, urging the ECI to adopt a more inclusive approach to documentation. Yogendra Yadav, national convener of Bharat Jodo Abhiyan, a civil campaign collective, said that the burden of proof has been reversed. "This is the first such instance in 22 years where the onus of getting their names on the list has been placed on the voter and where voters have been asked to furnish documents to prove their citizenship," Yadav told DW. "Instead of election officials ensuring eligible citizens are registered, voters must now submit fresh applications and documentary evidence of citizenship." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Jagdeep Chhokar of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGO known for its work on electoral and political reforms, challenged the SIR. Chhoka said the Bihar revision is "arbitrary and unconstitutional" and "risks disenfranchising millions of voters, particularly the poor and marginalized." "If it is not stopped now, it will disrupt the electoral process," he said. "If someone is not proven to be a citizen, he can also be deported. This is very dangerous," he added. Nearly 2 million people were excluded from the final citizenship list in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, which was published in 2019, effectively rendering their political and legal status as Indian citizens unclear. India's ruling BJP emphasized the importance of the election commission's registration revamp, which set to be applied nationwide. "This must be done," BJP spokesperson Tom Vadakkan told DW. "It is a routine and legal exercise aimed at cleaning the voter list and weed out non-voters. In the upcoming election, we want Indians to vote not outsiders." The ECI said the draft electoral rolls will be published on August 1 and voters will have until September 1 to make claims and objections. The final electoral roll is set to be published on September 30. The Supreme Court scheduled its next hearing for July 28.
India.com
18-06-2025
- General
- India.com
This woman converted to Islam to break her marriage, became Queen of Rs 24,000 crore empire, emptied her treasury due to alcohol, was known for her lavish lifestyle
The Royals of India are famous all across the world. From the royal family of the Mewar dynasty to the Wadiyar royal family, there are many notable names in India. However, today, we will talk about a queen who, in order to break off her wedding, converted to Islam. This queen was known for her beauty, hobbies, and even alcohol habits. If you are wondering who we are discussing, then let us tell you—we are talking about Maharani Sita Devi. She came from the Madras state and was known for her beauty. When she met the Maharaja of Baroda for the first time on the golf course, she fell in love with him at first sight. Maharani was already married and the mother of a child, but all this could not stop her from falling in love with Maharaja Pratap Singh Gaekwad of Baroda. Maharaja Pratap Singh Rao Gaekwad was the father of eight children, whereas Sita Devi belonged to Madras. Sita was the daughter of King Mahapati Surya Rao Bahadur Garo and Queen Chennamma. Maharani Sita Devi and Maharaja Pratap Singh Rao Gaekwad wanted to get married, but Sita Devi's first husband was not ready to divorce her. In order to get married, Sita Devi converted to Islam, and that way she legally separated from her first husband. However, after converting to Islam, Sita Devi again converted to Hinduism to marry Maharaja Pratap Singh Gaekwad. After the marriage, many more hurdles arose. However, the British government denied to accepet the marriage of Maharaja Pratap Singh Rao Gaekwad and Maharani Sita Devi. The condition was that the heir of the Baroda royal family would be Pratap Singh's son only. Maharaja Pratap Singh Rao Gaekwad fixed an annual allowance of Rs 50 lakh for the queen. Not only this, the queen was given a lump sum of ₹6 crore from the government treasury. In an interview, Maharaja Pratap Singh Rao's nephew, Jitendra Singh Gaekwad, revealed that Maharani Sita Devi loved her hobbies and was knwon for them. She had jewellery worth lakhs and crores. Above that, her wardrobe was filled with silk sarees and jewellery, which garnered massive attention. In 1949, Sita Devi's 78.5-carat English Dresden diamond necklace became the talk of the town. This necklace was discussed in fashion magazines. She had a necklace made of Basra pearls, which cost $5,99,200; a diamond necklace, which cost $50,400 at that time; a necklace made of black pearls, which cost $4,200; and a pearl ring worth $33,600.
