Guwahati, July 16: The Assam government has enacted a law, according to which branding someone a witch will now be a punishable offence. Seven years of jail term will be given to a person who will be found guilty under this act. In 2015, the Assam Witch Hunting Bill was passed in the state assembly. The law has been enacted three years after the bill was passed. The state government issued a gazette notification regarding the new act.

President Ram Nath Kovind approved the act on July 13. The bill was introduced by the then Tarun Gogoi government to put a check on cases of witch hunting in the state. According to the provision of the law, calling a person, a witch will attract a jail term of up to seven years and up to a fine of Rs five lakh.

If witch hunting results in the death of a person, then the accused will also be prosecuted under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 302. The bill was brought in after a 2013 judgment by the Gauhati High Court. The law makes witch-hunting a cognisable, non-bailable and non-compoundable offence. The government is however entitled to give compensation to the victim. According to government data, a total of 77 people were killed in the state between 2010 and 2015 after being labelled a witch.

Last year, the Guahati High Court observed witch-hunting was a dehumanising act. The court also termed it as one of the worst forms of human rights violation. States like Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and Maharashtra also have anti-witchhunt laws.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 16, 2018 08:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).