Case file · Witch trials
Kanjia witch-hunt killings
On the night of 7–8 August 2015 five women branded daayan (witches) were dragged from their homes and killed in Kanjia village near Ranchi, Jharkhand.
2015 CE · 23.45, 85.10 · status: official
The account
Villagers blamed the women for illnesses and deaths after a local ojha (healer) named them. Jharkhand passed one of India's first anti-witch-hunting laws in 2001, yet hundreds of killings have been recorded since.