Odisha cops sensitised on new witchcraft prevention law

A state-level training programme on The Odisha Prevention of Witch-hunting Act for police officers was held at the police headquarters here today to sensitise the cops on the new legislation.
The Act, which came into force in 2013 to prevent crimes related to witchcraft, was very scarcely used in the state as police officers were not registering cases under the provisions of this law.
In order to spread awareness about the new legislation, the training programme was arranged where activists working in related field spoke on the occasion, which was attended among others by selected police officers from all districts of the state.

According to the National Crime Record Bureau, witchcraft related crimes were mostly reported from the tribal dominated districts of the state and Mayurbhanj district has the dubious distinction of reporting maximum number of murder cases on this count.