Savitri Devi
wailed out aloud in front of her husband and mother-in-law, but her mother-in-Law, paying no heed to her, proceeded to burn Savitri’s innocent five-year-old’s tender feet over hot coals.
Savitri had told her mother-in-law that
her child has taken to drink more milk than usual so her mother-in-law believed
that the child is possessed by jamoga
(evil spirit) and to rid from it, she put both the feet of her newborn grandson
into fire.
Similarly, Neha Paswan’s one-and-a-half-year-old
daughter’s right-hand fingers were dipped in hot boiling oil by her husband
when she was merely 12 days old.
Like Savitri in Lucknow and Neha in
Shravasti there have been several such incidences heard on a regular basis within
the country. Occurring even in the present 21st century, such
pernicious acts of superstitions are heart-wrenching.
Savitri and Neha’s children’s limbs were
burnt by their families under suspicion of jamoga’s influence and the belief
that the act of burning would save their lives. Their superstition, however crippled,
the children for the rest of their days.
Savitri showing her kid’s disfigured body parts. Photo: Gaon Connection
According to the National Crime Record
Bureau, between 2014 and 2019, 52 children lost their lives due to superstition.
Similarly, for the period 1991-2010, 177 deaths were attributed to black magic
related incidences whereas in 2000-2016, 2,500 deaths were related to
witchcraft practices.
Savitri, 30, a resident of Gosainpur block, which is at a distance of a mere 30 kms from Lucknow, said: “Whenever
I look at my son’s feet, I am reminded of that ill-fated day. The entire family
was on one side and I alone on the other protesting against it. When she was
putting both his feet on fire it killed me, but no one listened.”
Telling about jamoga, the so-called evil spirit behind the death and injury to
several kids, Dr Neelam Singh, the founder of Vatsalya, informed: “Tetanus actually is referred to as jamoga in the native dialect. If an
expectant mother gets two vaccines during her pregnancy the chances of her
children catching this infection is rare. There was a time when many children
used to perish due to tetanus, but now theses deaths have reduced
substantially. If a newborn changes colour it can be attributed to other
probable causes such as hypothermia or some congenital heart problem. In such a
case immediate medical attention is required.”
A United Nations report shows the
deep influence of superstition and ignorance in India. A 2010 report of the UN
informs that between 1987 and 2003, 2,556 women were killed under the suspicion
of witchcraft.
Cuddling her one-and-half-year-old
daughter, Neha Paswan, 19, a villager living in Sravasti district, said: “When
she was four or five days old, her body began changing colour. When I told this to my
husband, he said that she has jamoga. She would die if her hand is not dipped
in boiling oil. I was no wiser. For four-five days I protested and was finally told
that she’d die if not branded.”
Fearing her daughter’s death Neha
could not stand up to her husband. Today only thumb and a finger remain on her
daughter’s right hand.
These incidences did not occur in some
remote tribal area, but in villages in close proximity of big cities well set
on the path to becoming future smart cities well equipped with technology.
On August 30, 2019, in a village,
about 30 kms from Lucknow, Kamla Devi, 50, put the hand of her three-month-old
grandson in boiling oil due to which the child died the next day.
When the Gaon Connection reporter
sought an account of it from Kamla Devi she seemed very casual about it. She
said, “We couldn’t detect jamoga timely in my grandson. If known earlier we
would have had the spirit exorcised but we came to know pretty late.”
It was shocking to see Kamla Devi not
betraying any sign of remorse. She added, “He didn’t cry a single time when his
hand was immersed in the oil, it means he had jamoga.”
How deep is rural India entrenched
in superstition it can easily be gauged by listening to Kamla Devi. “Its name
(jamoga) is not taken in the village because it can enter a house even at a
mention of its name. Many times it enters a child inside a mother’s womb. It
is that influence which kills a child and remains alive bothering the entire
household. The same happened with my grandson,” she said.
In order to protect their homes from evil spirits, these villagers hammer nails on doors.
After the grandson’s demise, she had
the entire house ‘fixed’ by hammering nails on all doors of her house so it may
remain free of the evil spirits. She’s had the nails blessed and procured from
a local seer.
When the Gaon Connection reporter tried to know more about jamoga from the residents of four-five villages
of Shravasti and Lucknow, most of them told that if the body colour of a new
born begins to change into light blue or black or yellow or if the baby
increases its breastmilk intake suddenly, we believe that he has jamoga.
Many village elders justified the superstition
on the basis of jamoga’s ability to
take children’s lives. If the affected child is not branded or burnt in oil,
the spirit, they said, would kill the child anyway. To shoo away jamoga and
save the child its limbs are so burnt.
Maya Devi, an Anganwadi worker from a village near Lucknow mentioned two-three jamoga related incidents from her
villages saying, “Jamoga is no new
illness, it is an age-old problem. Some people seek to conjure the spirit or
branding the victim. A man from our village was similarly branded as a kid due
to jamoga, but no harm came to him.”
Seeing the faith of an Anganwadi
worker, who is entrusted with the care of little children and expectant mothers,
in superstitions like jamoga; one can well understand the plight of such
villages.
At the same time, even after losing
the life of her three-month-old grandson, Kamla Devi is far from realizing the
truth. She still seeks the help of charlatans to ward off evil spirits.
She said: “Soon after the death of my
grandson, my daughter-in-law got possessed by the evil spirits. We sought a
local senior woman’s help in curing her. We take every spirit victim to her and
despite being over 100 years, she fixes them all by her immense divine powers.”
In order to meet Virja Devi, the
exorcist, Gaon Connection reporter had to feign the act of a possessed person
in order to understand the former’s mode of operation. Virja Devi cannot see and is
barely able to hear.
Villagers get these nails blessed and procured from a local seer and nail them on the doors of their homes. Photo: Gaon Connection
Calling for Rs 5 worth clove she
chants some mantra and blows telling a tale of ghosts. After such a show, people
readily believe her.
Virja Devi said: “Go ask the villagers
for they will tell you how many people I have cured. Any external influence is
cured by my talisman and cloves. Many became parents due to my powers.” When asked
where she learned the art from, pat came her reply that the powers were all
bestowed upon her by God himself.
Uttar Pradesh’s Shravasti district is
the most backward with an average literacy rate of 46.26% (General Census 2011)
whilst India’s average literacy rate is 74.04%. As per the National Family
Health Survey-4 (2015-16), in Shravasti, only 42.7% of the females aged six and
above have been to school. During the survey, 7.0% of women aged between 15 and
19 years were either expectant or had become mothers. Also, the percentage of
women in the age group 20-24 that were married before 18 years of age was 67.9.
Sushma Devi, an associate at Mahila Samakhya,
an organization working for the betterment of women, said: “There has been a
drop in the burning incidents as compared to earlier times. We visit village after village raising awareness about jamoga-related malpractices. Some listen,
others don’t.”
Regarding such occurrences in Shravast district,
its chief medical officer Dr VKSingh said: “I am not notified about any such
incidence, but still the region being extremely backwards is rife with numerous
beliefs. Even today’ people spend two days of illness in sorcery remedies
before coming to the hospital. We direct ASHA workers to take up the matter of
superstition for discussion, but how much they follow it we do not know.”
Meanwhile, 750 kms far from Uttar
Pradesh’s Shravasti in Jharkhand, a similar dayan
(sorceress)the practice is costing the lives of several innocent women.
Reshma Kumari of Aali an organization working in Jharkhand to provide a legal remedy
to women said: “Here incidents pertaining to superstition are quite common. It
points out to the faults in public health and education systems because people
are largely ignorant. No one has told these people to seek medical help and not
that of a sorcerer.”
As per 2014-15 records of Jharkhand
State Crime Bureau, about 203 people have lost their life coming in contact
with the practices of sorcery and 4,125 people were affected in the ensuing
violence.
The victims of such malpractices are rendered handicapped for the rest of their lives. Photo: Gaon Connection
Due to poor education and health
services at the rural level, such superstitious practices like dayan and jamoga exist. This can be easily understood by Reshma’s views.
“Most of the deaths attributed to
sorcery happen during the rainy season because it is in this season that various
illnesses spread and people associate them with dayan. Previously only women were killed but of late even men and
children are being killed,” Reshma informed.
Dr Ashutosh Verma, a pediatrician and
vice chairman, Lucknow Academy of Pediatrics said: “If a child is small and is
seen light blue or greyish, pay attention to his body temperature. It can be
indicative of hypothermia, lung infection or heart-related ailments.” He added:
“Women should go for regular check-ups during pregnancy. If an expectant mother
falls sick, she should be provided with immediate medical help. Also, ensure
that the baby is born under a doctor’s supervision. If a child shows any
symptoms, he must be taken to a doctor as soon as possible.”
At the same time Savitri blames herself
for the burnt fingers of her child, “If only I had a shade of suspicion that
they would burn my child, I would have never revealed that he has increased his
feeds. I couldn’t bring myself to talk to my mother-in-law until six months
after the incidence. His burn wounds being so severe my child had been through
hell. Only after intensive treatment of one and half year could he walk a
little.”
Devesh today is a young boy of six,
but still, when he walks barefoot his wounds resurface and bleeding occurs. He
plays wantonly in a corner with dirt despite repeated warnings from his worried
mother as his feet being tender are still prone to bruising.
Devesh’s father Ramkishore, 33, said: “How
could have I gone against my mother. We were naïve and had to forcibly accept
whatever my mother did. Much had been spent on him so that he may walk. He is a
bright child, but his legs would fail him. Growing up, he would curse us for
his remaining days.”
(All names changed to protect identities)
Also Read: Discard Superstitions & Outdated Traditions
