Witch Burning in India

[Ron Caliburn]

BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - An Indian woman accused of witchcraft was beaten, gagged and burnt to death in a remote eastern village, police said on Friday.

The woman was dragged out of her home, her hands and legs tied and taken to a crematorium where she was set on fire in front of the village which ignored her screams for help.

The incident took place in a tribal village in Orissa and occurred last week, but came to light on Thursday with the arrest of three villagers.

The victim was murdered by the husband and relatives of a neighbour whose death was blamed on her witchcraft.

Dozens of women are killed every year on suspicion of being witches or witch doctors in India, where superstition is widespread, especially in rural areas that lack an effective schooling system.

I know some here will say this is an example of the hysteria that will sweep the world if we tell people the truth about what is out there.

I say this is an example of the hysteria tha will sweep the globe if they find out witches and monsters are real without learning how to properly identify them and how to summon the properly trained authorities.

[KonThaak]

Amen... People have been falsely accused of witchcraft and unjustly executed for it for far too long, while the true black witches continue practicing undetected.

A proper education would remedy that, but...

[GhostSpider]

Even the most well trained person, especially when in a group, will panic.

Its just human nature. Educate all you want, but you can't change that.

[Razor]

Technically, they would even consider psychics as practicing 'witchcraft'. They would lable anything they don't understand as 'witchcraft'. They would lable they very technology and science which some of our people use, as... you guessed it, 'witchcraft'. Why? Because it's something that their uneducated minds can't easily grasp, as there are no real frames of reference, for one.

[KonThaak]

Ghost: Maybe, but I'd say 99% of these "witch" burnings are not done in panic... They are performed in hostility and anger. When acting in anger, a person has usually made a conscious decision to put themselves into a position to lash out... If people are educated about such things, and they recognize that a true black witch is acting, they can alert proper authorities, who can bring in specialized equipment and take appropriate actions.

Razor: If properly educated, that shouldn't be an issue.

[GhostSpider]

Panic, mob mentality, its all the same thing.

Education won't work on people who will simply give themselves up to the mob at the drop of a hat.

[KonThaak]

With proper authorities in place who are capable of dealing with situations, there won't be a mob to give themselves over to. How many people do we hear about getting lynched in the South for a crime that everyone swears they committed, only to find out later they didn't? That used to happen all the time. Now there's a better justice system, better criminal education, and proper authorities to enforce those systems, and that sort of thing just doesn't really happen anymore. In the few exceptions to that rule, it's usually a hate crime disguised as "justice".

In the same way, if we had proper authorities and education in place, people would have far less reason to form a mob and fall prey to that kind of mentality. Not just in the US, everywhere. Every country in the world that has higher education and competent authorities usually enjoys a fairly mob-free populace. It's only when one of these is lacking that problems occur.

[GhostSpider]

Education is what got us into this mess in the first place. For many years, we've told our children, and they've told theirs, that there are no monsters in the closet, or under the bed. Magic isn't real, the paranormal is all hoaxes and superstition. Admittedly, this is man's only psychological defense against their fear of the unknown. It isn't real, so you shouldn't fear it.

Now imagine what happens when you tell people that all that they've known is wrong, that there are monsters under the bed, and they will eat your children.

No amount of education is going to control the fear and panic that will engender. Mankind isn't ready, and may never be ready. Anyone who believes different is living in a dream world.

[KonThaak]

Education of that sort alone will not reach everyone all at once, and thus, it won't create widespread panic... It just won't work that way. We can only educate one person--maybe a small handful of people--at a time... That's all we can do.

There won't be widespread panic in that way.

Even if we could, you know Americans as well as I do... "Oh, there's a problem, but the government's already taking steps to fix it? Oh, great. That means I can still watch Oprah without having to worry about things."

[Razor]

Until it comes knocking at their door and they are dragged kicking and screaming into the night because they never thought it could happen to them. I see it time after time, day in, day out.

I finally got tired of warning people because they wouldn't listen, so I just wait for it to happen, or start to happen, and usually intercept it then.

[Ethan Skinner]

Anyone who believes different is living in a dream world.

Dreams can be very dangerous. And ultimatums like that are generally wrong.

[GhostSpider]

Dreams can be very dangerous.

I've seen that first hand.

[Razor]

Me too, Ghost. Me too. I still got some scars to prove it.