Crusader against witch hunting to be felicitated

A non-profit organisation formed in 2005 to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood between people from North East and the rest of the country will on Wednesday felicitate Dr Birubala Rabha, a crusader against the practice of witch-hunting, at an award ceremony in Dadar.

The work carried out by Rabha, who saved over 50 women in the North East from being killed after they were branded as witches, will be celebrated at the ONE (Our North East) India Awards organised by My Home India.

Rabha, a tribal woman who hails from Thakurbhila, a remote village in Goalpara district of Assam close to the Assam-Meghalaya border, h as been fighting a tough battle against the menace of witch-hunting for over a decade now. She was a key force behind the introduction of the Prevention of and Protection from Witch Hunting Act, 2015. The act was aimed at curbing the0 social evil afflicting the state.

In 2005 in recognition of her dedicated service, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee included her name in a list of 1,000 women nominated from 150 countries. In 2015, the University of Guwahati conferred an honorary PhD on her.

Rabha has been crusading against witch-hunting after a village quack almost killed her son in 1996. She did not budge despite being threatened with excommunication. Her team and rescued more than 50 women from being branded as witches and killed before launching Mission Birubala, an awareness campaign against witch-hunting. 

Vinay Pandey, General Secretary of My Home India said, “Birubala has been a ray of hope for the entire nation. She has been a voice against patriarchy and has shown us that regressive social norms need to be done away with to usher reforms in society.”