Jharkhand’s social worker Chutni Mahto has been honored with the Padma Shri award. President Of India Ram Nath Kovind honored this social worker. Chutni Mahto, a resident of Seraikela Kharsawan district, has fought against the evils of society. She did a great job by ending the practice of witch which has been going on in society for thousands of years. Chutni Mahto was also thrown out of the village by the people of the village by calling her a witch. No one was with her in that bad time. Despite being alone, she did not give up her courage and helped the country end society’s evil practice. Let us try to understand the life of Padam Shri Chutni Mahto today. After all, how did Chutni Mahto become a social worker?
Chutni Mahto is a resident of Birbans village of Gamharia in Seraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand. She was married at the age of 12. Her husband’s name was Dhananjay Mahto, a resident of Mahtadih village of Gamharia police station. Chutni has three children. Once, the daughter of their neighbor Bhajohari became ill. People suspected that Chutni had done some witchcraft. On September 2, 1995, this incident was when Chutni Mahto was declared a witch by the villagers in the village panchayat. After being declared a witch, people tried to forcefully enter Chutni’s house and do cruelty to her. She was subjected to various kinds of torture. At that time, she was fined Rs. 500, which was paid with great difficulty by Chutni Mahto.
No one was with Chutni Mahto
Despite this, people harassed her in various ways. At that time, people blind-faith that if a witch is given feces, then the effect of the witch ends on her. For this, an attempt was made to forcefully feed the feces to Chutni. When Chutni objected to this, feces were thrown on her body, and she was thrown out of the village along with her three children. To protect her honor, Chutni also met the then MLA Champai Soren, but to no avail. For this, she also filed a report in Adityapur police station. Some people were arrested but were released. When Chutni could not find any other way, she left her in-laws’ house and went to live at her maternal home.
But even there, her troubles did not end. Even there, people called him a witch and kept her outside the village. So Chutni Mahto built a small house there and started living with the children. Despite all this, Chutni did not lose courage and started the fight against the practice of witchcraft in 1995. So far, she has been successful in rehabilitating more than 200 women from torture. Even today, Chutni Mahto leads the fight against this evil practice and runs the Witch Rehabilitation Center in Birbans. Let us try to know what the practice of witchcraft is?
What is witchcraft?
The biggest thing in the rise of the witch system is the low literacy rate. The exorcist has a big role in the witch tradition. In the backward society where there was no literacy rate and no good health services, people used to go to the exorcist instead of the doctor when they got sick. When the exorcists failed to catch the disease, they used to blame a woman. And then that woman was called a witch. Chutni Mahto was also a victim of such superstition.
Economic disputes, superstitions, and other social conflicts have also been the roots of the witch system.
When Chutni Mahto also had to face the brunt of this practice, she decided to change the direction of the society, and now the time has come when people are awakening with a new consciousness. To eliminate this superstition among the people, Chutni Mahto was awarded the Padma Shri. After being awarded the Padma Shri, Chutni Mahto said that she would fight till her last breath for it.
She thanked the Government Of India for the Padma Shri and said that it is a matter of good fortune for me that the government considered me worthy. She said that a strict law will have to be made to root this evil practice, and immediate action will be taken to receive the complaint. Chutni Mahto further said, “the prime minister has chosen a woman like me for such a great honor; it shows that Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s eyes are also on the ant”.
You must log in to post a comment.