Bangalore: Government to bring law against superstition, black magic

From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Sep 23: A legislation to impose a crack down against superstition and inhuman evil and gory practices such as black magic and human sacrifices is on the cards.

This is a proposal of the Congress government in Karnataka led by chief minister Siddaramaiah.

''Illiterate and gullible sections of society fall prey to such practices which are widespread in the State,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra said adding, the Government wants to curb them.

An alarming number of incidences of exploitation of the common people in the society because of human sacrifices and other inhuman, evil and gory practices, practice of black magic and evil spirits at the hands of conmen have come to light, he said.

Taking advantage of ignorance in some sections of the society, astrologers and black magicians propagate various practices and exploit the common people, the minister said.

The Bill would be called Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman Evil and Gory Practices and Black Magic Bill, 2013, he said.

The proposed legislation would be on the lines of the ordinance in Maharashtra, the minister said.

The State Government would introduce the Bill in the coming session of the State legislature to take appropriate and stringent social and legal measures to effectively prevent inhuman practices such as human sacrifice, sacrificing domestic animals, black magic, sinister and gory practices and to save the common people falling prey to the sinister designs of black magicians and conmen.

Jayachandra said the main objective of the Bill is to create awareness among the people and prevent harmful practices, usages, black magic and such other inhuman, evil and sinister designs by astrologers and conmen.

The illiterate and educated people fall prey to the black magicians whose false claims of possessing magical or miraculous remedies and anti-social activities damaged the social fibre, he explained.

The Minister said he would write to the Social Welfare Department seeking its suggestions, while inputs from National Law School of India University and Karnataka Law University would also be incorporated in the proposed comprehensive legislation, which aims to curtail such practices and go after those who encourage them.

Under the proposed law, promoters of various such practices that exploit the people would be brought to book, he said.

The aim was to protect people and put promoters of such practices behind bars, the Minister said. While he has studied a similar measure in Maharashtra, the State’s proposed law would be different, he said.

The minister said along with the Act, the government would also come out with rules to curb such practices so that there is no ambiguity in implementation of stringent provisions.