Imprisonment for witch accusations

The district court of Okhaldhunga has decided to give a prison sentence to the accuser of witchcraft. A 64-year-old woman of Molung Rural Municipality-1 of the district was sentenced to imprisonment against two people from the same place for allegedly beating up a 64-year-old woman on the charge of being a witch.

The court decided imprisonment and fine against 50-year-old Deepak Vishwakarma and 27-year-old Muna Vishwakarma, who burned an old woman on fire after accusing her of being a witch. The single bench of District Judge Tikaram Acharya has decided to fine Deepak with five years imprisonment and a Rs 60,000 fine and Muna with five years imprisonment Rs 50,000 fine.

In the case of a 17-year-old girl involved in the same incident, the court said that after understanding the real situation, her parents will take the rest of the process forward. It has also been decided to pay Rs 60,000 cash compensation to the victim. The court decided that Deepak should pay Rs 30,000, Muna should pay Rs 15,000 and the local level should pay Rs 15,000 to the victim woman, said Naveen Khanal, district court clerk of Okhaldhunga. According to Srestedar Khanal, according to the provision mentioned in section (12) 2 of the Witchcraft Accusation (Crime and Punishment) Act, 2016, the concerned local level has to pay Rs 15,000.

Deepak, Muna, and a teenage girl accused her of being a witch and beat up an old woman, and burned her in a fire on the 8th Baisakh of the year 2019. The old victim had registered a case in the District Court four years ago for justice through the District Police Office Okhaldhunga.

District Judge Acharya's bench has determined the offense as per section (3) 1 (g) of the Witch Accusation (Offence and Punishment) Act, 2016, and the court has set the punishment. Although many cases of witchcraft accusations in the district have been settled through settlement, this case which reached the court has been decided according to the demand of the victim.