6.3 Witchcraft

The practice: the witch-accusation's violence — the women's (the Dalit's-and-poor's-and-widow's overrepresentation) targeting: the public accusation (the illness's-and-misfortune's blame), the exorcism's torture (the beating, the force-feeding, the expulsion), the mob's participation (the community's complicity); the property-motive's lore (the accused's land grab through the label). The law's line: the Witchcraft (Offence and Punishment) Act 2033's faces (the original's both-ways design — the accusation's-and-the-practice's offences; the 2014-15-era amendment's modernisation: the accusation's-and-violence's aggravated faces, the compensation's enhancement); the Muluki Criminal Code 2074's faces (the accusation's offences; the violence's-and-expulsion's specific crimes); the Reshma Thapa case's judicial foundation (the 2058 directive: the women's protection laws — Unit 8.3's story). The audit: the rural reach (the reporting's barriers — the village's-and-family's pressure); the private settlements' problem (the mediation's misuse); the victim's reintegration (the return-to-the-community's difficulty — the expelled woman's world).