The RAJASTHAN PREVENTION OF WITCH-HUNTING Act 2015

THE RAJASTHAN PREVENTION OF WITCH-HUNTING Act, 2015 
An 
Act 
 
to provide for effective measures to tackle the menace of witch-hunting and to 
prevent the practice of witch craft in the State of Rajasthan and for matters 
connected therewith and incidental thereto. 
 Be it enacted by the Rajasthan State Legislature in the Sixty-sixth Year of 
the Republic of India, as follows:- 
 1. Short title, extent and commencement.- (1) This Act may be called 
the Rajasthan Prevention of Witch-hunting Act, 2015. 
 (2) It extends to the whole of the State of Rajasthan. 
 (3) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by 
notification in the Official Gazette, appoint. 
 2. Definitions.- In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,- 
(a) “witch” means a woman, locally known as “Dayan”, “Dakan”, 
“Dakin” or otherwise, who has been identified by any person or 
persons believing her to be in possession of, or as having, any evil 
power for causing any harm to any person or property; 
(b) “witch craft” means use of supernatural or magical power with evil 
intention to call up spirit or cast spell or discover the whereabouts of 
stolen goods and includes such other similar practices which are 
known as “Tona-Totaka”, “Tantra-Mantra”, “Jadu-Tona”, “Jhad-
Phunk” or the like; 
(c) “witch doctor” means a person who is locally known as “Gunia”, 
“Ojha”, “Tantrik” or otherwise and claims that he has supernatural or 
magical power to control or cure a witch or performs any ritual 
purportedly to free a woman from evil spirit; 
(d) “witch-hunting” means any act or conduct on the part of any person,- 
(i) identifying, accusing or defaming a woman as a witch; 
(ii) harassing, harming or injuring such woman whether mentally or 
physically or by damaging her property; and 
 (e) words and expressions used but not defined in this Act and de-fined in 
the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Central Act No. 2 of 1974) or 
the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Central Act No. 45 of 1860) shall have 
the meanings assigned to them respectively in those Codes. 
3. Prohibition of witch-hunting and practising witch craft.- No person 
shall commit witch-hunting or exercise or practise witch craft. 
4. Punishment for witch-hunting.- (1) Whoever, except in the cases 
provided for in sub-section (2), commits witch-hunting shall be punishable with 
rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year but which 
may extend to five years or with fine which shall not be less than fifty thousand 
rupees or with both. 
(2) Whoever forces a woman, branding her as witch, to drink or eat any 
inedible substance or any obnoxious substance or parade her naked or with 
scanty cloths or with painted face or body or commits any similar acts which is 
derogatory to human dignity or displaces her from her house or other property 
shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be 
less than three years but which may extend to seven years or with fine which 
shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees or with both. 
5. Punishment for witch craft.- Whoever practises witch craft or other 
similar practices with intent to cause harm or injury to any person shall be 
punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year 
but which may extend to three years or with fine which shall not be less than ten 
thousand rupees or with both. 
 6. Punishment for witch doctor.- Whoever-  
(i)  claims that he has supernatural or magical power to control or cure a 
witch shall be punishable with rigorous  imprisonment for a term which shall not 
be less than one year but which may extend to three years or with fine which 
shall not be less than ten thousand rupees or with both; 
(ii) performs any ritual purportedly to free a woman from evil spirit shall 
be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 
three years but which may extend to seven years or with fine which shall not be 
less than fifty thousand rupees or with both; 
(iii) causes a witch doctor to perform any ritual purportedly to free a 
woman from evil spirit shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a 
term which shall not be less than three years but which may extend to seven 
years or with fine which shall not be less than fifty thousand rupees or with both. 
7. Punishment  for unnatural death of a woman subjected to witch-
hunting.- Where the death of a woman is caused by any burns or bodily injury 
or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances and it is proved that soon 
before her death she was subjected to witch-hunting, notwithstanding anything 
contained in section 4, every person who involved in the commission of such 
witch-hunting shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which 
shall not be less than seven years but which may extend to imprisonment for life 
or with fine which shall not be less than one lakh rupees or with both. 
8. Power of State Government to impose collective fine.- (1) If, after an 
inquiry in the prescribed manner, the State Government is satisfied that the 
inhabitants of an area are concerned in, or abetting,  the commission of, any 
offence punishable under this Act, or harbouring persons concerned in the 
commission of such offence or failing to render all the assistance in their power 
to discover or apprehend the offender or offenders or suppressing material 
evidence of the commission of such offence, the State Government may, by 
notification in the Official Gazette, impose a collective fine on such inhabitants 
and apportion such fine amongst the inhabitants who are liable collectively to 
pay it, and such apportionment shall be made according to the State 
Government’s judgment of the respective means of such inhabitants:  
Provided that the fine apportioned to an inhabitant shall not be realized 
until the petition, if any, filed by him under sub-section (3) is disposed of.  
(2) The notification made under sub-section (1) shall be proclaimed in the 
area by beat of drum or in such other manner as the State Government may think 
best in the circumstances to bring the imposition of the collective fine to the 
notice of the inhabitants of the said area.  
(3) (a) Any person aggrieved by the imposition of the collective fine 
under sub-section (1) or by the order of apportionment, may, within the 
prescribed period, file a petition before the State Government or such other 
authority as the State  Government may specify in this behalf for being 
exempted from such fine or for modification of the order of apportionment:  
Provided that no fee shall be charged for filing such petition.  
(b) The State Government or the authority specified by it shall, after 
giving to the petitioner a reasonable opportunity of being heard, pass such order 
as it may think fit:  
Provided that the amount of the fine exempted or reduced under this 
section shall not be realizable from any person, and the total fine imposed on the 
inhabitants of an area under sub-section (1) shall be deemed to have been 
reduced to that extent.  
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (3), the State 
Government may exempt the victims of any offence punishable under this Act or 
any person who does not, in its opinion, fall within the category of persons 
specified in sub-section (1), from the liability to pay the collective fine imposed 
under sub-section (1) or any portion thereof.  
(5) The fine payable by any person under this section shall be recovered 
as an arrear of land revenue. 
(6)  The net proceeds of the fine realized under this section shall be 
utilized in the rehabilitation and resettlement of the victims of offences 
punishable under this Act. 
9. Order for compensation.- (1) Where a sentence of fine is imposed 
under sections 4, 5, 6 and 7, the Court shall, in fixing the amount of fine, take 
into consideration the physical and mental damage caused to the victim 
including any cost of treatment and also the damage, if any, caused to the 
property of the victim. 
(2) When a Court imposes sentence of fine, the Court shall, while passing 
judgment, order at least sixty per cent of the fine recovered to be paid as 
compensation to the victim. 
10. Application of certain provisions of the Indian Penal             
Code.- Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the provisions of section 34, 
Chapter III, Chapter IV, Chapter V, Chapter VA, section 149 and Chapter XXIII 
of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Central Act No. 45 of 1860), shall, so far as may 
be, apply for the purposes of this Act as they apply for the purposes of the said 
Code.  
11. Preventive action to be taken by the law and order         
machinery.- (1) A District Magistrate or a Sub-divisional Magistrate or any 
other Executive Magistrate or any police officer not below the rank of a Deputy 
Superintendent of Police may, on receiving information and after such inquiry as 
he may think necessary, has reason to believe that a person or a group of persons 
residing in or frequenting any place within the local limits of his jurisdiction is 
likely to commit an offence under this Act and is of the opinion that there is 
sufficient ground for proceeding, declare such an area to be an area prone to 
offences punishable under this Act and take necessary action for keeping the 
peace and good behaviour and maintenance of public order and tranquility and 
may take preventive action.  
(2) The provisions of Chapters VIII, X and XI of the Code of Criminal 
Procedure, 1973 (Central Act No. 2 of 1974) shall, so far as may be, apply for 
the purposes of sub-section (1).  
(3) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, 
make one or more schemes specifying the manner in which the officers referred 
to in sub-section (1) shall take appropriate action specified in such scheme or 
schemes to prevent offences punishable under this Act. 
12. Preventive and protective actions to be taken by the State 
Government.- The State Government may, by notification in the Official 
Gazette, make one or more scheme or schemes for- 
(i) rehabilitation and resettlement of, and for providing legal or medical 
aid to, the victims of offences punishable under this Act; 
(ii) to conduct awareness programme on blind belief and educate people 
about the absurd concept of evil spirit, witch craft and for such other 
matters as the State Government may deem proper. 
13. Act not in derogation of any other law.- The provisions of this Act 
shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, any other law for the time being 
in force. 
14. Protection of action taken in good faith.- No suit, prosecution or 
other legal proceedings shall lie against the State Government or any officer or 
authority thereof or any other person for anything which is in good faith done or 
intended to be done under this Act. 
15. Power to make rules.- (1) The State Government may, by 
notification in the Official Gazette, make rules to carry out the provisions of this 
Act. 
(2) All rules made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after 
they are made, before the House of the State Legislature, while it is in session, 
for a period of not less than fourteen days which may be comprised in one 
session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the 
session in which they are so laid or the session immediately following, the 
House of the State Legislature makes any modification in any such rule or 
resolves that any such rule should not be made, the rules shall thereafter have 
effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, so 
however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to 
the validity of anything previously done thereunder. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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