When was Witch Hunting Act Came into force ?

The correct answer is 2015.

• The Rajasthan Prevention of Witch-hunting Act, 2015 came into force in April 2015.
  • The special Enactment, as the name suggests, is ostensibly targeted at combating the problem of Witch-Hunting that prevails in the state.
  • The Preamble to the Act states that the objective of the Act is to " provide effective measures to tackle the menace of Witch-hunting" and to "prevent the practice of Witchcraft".

Important Points

• The thesis of this essay is that the Act suffers from a problem of overcriminalisation, as is evidenced primarily by Section 2 (b) [4] and Section 8 [5] of the Act.
• While a society founded on principles of liberty ought to respect the autonomy of its citizens, the State has the power to criminalize certain modes of conduct.
• Section 3 of the Act prohibits the commission of witch-hunting and the exercise and practice of witchcraft.
• Generally, it is a central principle of criminalization that there must be an actus reus (guilty act) and men's rea (guilty state of mind). When either of the two elements is lacking, criminalization does not generally follow. Under the definition section, the actus reus is the “use of supernatural or magical power” to “call up spirit or cast spell or discover the whereabouts of stolen goods”. The men's rea that the definition provides for is “evil intention”.