When deadly superstitions become the last resort of the desperate

The alleged human sacrifice of two women in India recently, presumably to seek greater fortunes, has shocked many in the country. A few years back a headless body of a woman found in front of a temple in another state had sparked similar concerns and debates.

Historically speaking, human sacrifice is nothing new in human society. It was practiced by the Aztecs and many other civilisations. However, over time, this practice has been replaced in most societies by symbolic offerings of fruits. But a part of the human psyche remains entangled in rituals, superstitions and beliefs, rational and irrational.

In India, superstitions are just about everywhere and all of us jump in fear when we break glass as that might bring bad luck; most women wear kohl in their eyes to keep negative vibes at bay and so on. None of us who grew up in India's multi-cultural and multi-religious society can say with complete honesty that we don’t believe in any of the superstitions. And that is true among the rich and poor, educated and uneducated. Most of these superstitions are harmlesss, and even if a kohl-eye doesn’t prevent evil spirits, it also doesn’t harm anyone. The worry is when these superstitions claim lives and cause harm to self and others, as we see in the recent case where two innocent lives were lost because of an irrational belief.

In findings published in Nature in 2016, a group of researchers also pointed out that in more egalitarian societies, where wealth and rank was not passed down generationally, there were lesser instances of human sacrifice than in highly stratified societies where class and rank was passed down from one generation to another. In simple words, what we are talking about is economics and resources, and how the lack of it can lead to such desperate actions.

Poverty in India is real and so is the divide between the rich, the middle class and the poor. According to the latest report issued by the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) 415 million people exited multi-dimensional poverty in India in 15 years from 2005/06 to 2015/16 which is definitely good news. But the worrisome part is that India still has the largest number of poor people worldwide at 228.9 million in 2020. This data also helps us understand the extent of poverty prevalent here and how harsh times can sometimes lead to such practices and irrational beliefs.

But to be fair, no society has ever been totally free of superstitions or even human sacrifice. In the Greek myth the warrior King Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter in order to get a favourable wind as they sailed to Troy; and the Egyptians buried the servants along with the Pharaohs so that they could serve them in the next life. Human history and Indian mythology is full of such stories, the full moon and the moonless nights and attempts to please deities and nature by various offerings and rituals.

In modern times, what has complicated matters is the economic structure and the inherent inequalities that are in built in such a system. A desire for greater economic prosperity, a hope that that the bad times would go away, led to this recent gory incident.

In India, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data recorded 103 ritualistic sacrifices from 2014 to 2021. In 2015 the highest number of such cases was recorded at 24, while in 2018 it was recorded at the lowest with just four cases. What makes matters worse is that there is no central law in India even today that deals with superstition, black magic or occult related practices. Since 1999, only eight Indian states have put such laws into place. Politically these issues are delicate matters as most rituals and beliefs trace their origins to religion.

So while the laws definitely need to be put in place, we also need to start addressing people’s insecurities, especially economic ones, in a world where the divide between the rich and poor is sharply rising.

- The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi