Assam Witchcraft Murder: Six Get Life Term 31 Years After Killing 80-Year-Old Woman

A district court in Assam’s Kamrup district has sentenced six men to life imprisonment for the 1995 murder of 80-year-old Maria Boro, bringing a 31-year-old witchcraft-related murder case to a judicial conclusion while highlighting a social problem that Assam has spent years trying to eradicate. The verdict offers a measure of justice for Boro, but the persistence of witch-hunting cases shows that criminal punishment alone cannot eliminate the superstition and social vulnerabilities that allow such violence to occur.

Rangia Additional Sessions and District Judge Mukul Chetia sentenced Soneswar Boro, Jungle Boro, Suraj Boro, Kandura Boro, Hareshwar Boro and Dhanla Boro to life imprisonment under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code for murder. They were also given an additional five-year sentence for causing the disappearance of evidence. The six convicts were residents of the same village as the victim. The crime took place in 1995 at Bordangerikuchi village, under Baihata Chariali police station, after a local person died following traditional treatment. The accused allegedly blamed Maria Boro for the death, claiming she practised witchcraft. She was beaten and set ablaze before her half-burnt body was buried near her house. Police registered a case involving rioting, unlawful assembly, murder, house trespass and destruction of evidence. The trial began in 2013, with the verdict delivered in 2026.

Boro’s killing predates Assam’s dedicated legal response to witch-hunting. The state enacted the Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Act, 2015, which received presidential assent in June 2018 and made witch-hunting a cognisable and non-bailable offence. Yet the practice has persisted. Assam’s 2025 policy to combat human trafficking and end witch-hunting recorded 32 cases between 2022 and 2024, while calling for prevention, victim protection and rehabilitation through coordinated government intervention.

The campaign against the practice was strongly shaped by activist Birubala Rabha, who founded Mission Birubala in 2011 and spent decades challenging witch-branding. She received the Padma Shri in 2021 and died in 2024. Activists and researchers have linked witch-hunting not only to superstition but also to gender discrimination, social exclusion, personal rivalries and property disputes.

Assam has also broadened its response through the Assam Healing (Prevention of Evil) Practices Act, 2024, targeting harmful supernatural healing practices. Community programmes involving police, teachers, Anganwadi workers, panchayat representatives and social organisations have sought to strengthen scientific awareness and legal literacy.

The Maria Boro verdict therefore delivers two messages: justice can punish superstition-driven violence, but awareness must prevent it. After 31 years, accountability has arrived but Assam’s larger challenge is ensuring that another person is never killed because fear and unproven beliefs turn them into a scapegoat.